


Desert Flower

by J_P_Lupine



Category: Naruto
Genre: Childhood Friends, Demons, Don't copy to another site, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Feral Behavior, Inner Beast, Loss of Control, Shinobi, Spirits, Tailed Beasts, berserk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2020-07-08 22:36:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 39,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19877206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_P_Lupine/pseuds/J_P_Lupine
Summary: A newborn child cries out in the night, swaddled in a blanket as it laid in a woven basket. Angry tears stream hot down the infant's cheeks as it screams without rest into the warm summer air. Gnarled trees with visible, twisted roots hang over the baby as the leaves are rustled by a gentle wind."Oh, hush now." A calm voice says as a cloaked figure kneels down and cradles the infant in their arms. "The pain will cease soon enough, child, so hush." The figure gently pulls the blanket down far enough to see the tiny hands balled into fists under the baby's chin.The infant ignores the monotone words and continues to cry and scream to the Heavens with fury rather than pain. Its face has already turned completely red, contrasting with the faint freckles spotting the child's cheeks, and the cloaked person sighs while tapping the baby's chin.





	1. Kami-sama....

A newborn child cries out in the night, swaddled in a blanket as it laid in a woven basket. Angry tears stream hot down the infant's cheeks as it screams without rest into the warm summer air. Gnarled trees with visible, twisted roots hang over the baby as the leaves are rustled by a gentle wind.  
"Oh, hush now." A calm voice says as a cloaked figure kneels down and cradles the infant in their arms. "The pain will cease soon enough, child, so hush." The figure gently pulls the blanket down far enough to see the tiny hands balled into fists under the baby's chin.  
The infant ignores the monotone words and continues to cry and scream to the Heavens with fury rather than pain. Its face has already turned completely red, contrasting with the faint freckles spotting the child's cheeks, and the cloaked person sighs while tapping the baby's chin.  
"Come now, quiet your insistent crying. How am I to sneak in if you're screaming? You will alert the shinobi-do you really want that?" But it seemed no words would console the tiny babe in their arms. "How about this," They sighed once more while looking around, checking the surrounding woods to see if it was still safe. "I'll show you the pretty red you like so much, will that quiet you?" The infant continued to cry. "Aka." The cloaked figure whispered to the baby. "Pretty aka...." And the baby slowly ceased it's screaming as the person cooed the word.  
"You truly are a devil's child." They said while laying the baby back into the basket. It had only been a week and a half since the child had been born, but it had come under the cloaked figure's care only an hour after birth. Since then, they had learned many things of the baby and how the mark on its lower back played a role in the infant's odd behavior.  
Picking up the basket with the now silent baby that was calmly breathing, the cloaked figure glanced to the growing moon. A flash of silver on their forehead revealed them to be a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, but they had traveled far away for the child they carried. The infant itself was of the Leaf as well, but the thing inside of it was from the Land of Snow.  
As the Leaf ninja silently walked with the basket in its arms, their eyes darted through the shadows, seeking out a way to appease the child with the _'pretty aka_ '. Nearing Konoha, there should be a path that would converge with another shinobi on the way in.  
Luckily, near the village, the cloaked figure managed to find a lone shinobi resting in a tree. It looked to be a young chunin, but with the war going on not too far away, no one would notice when this ninja had perished. Placing the basket and child onto the ground, the infant opened its bleary eyes that were a shocking gold. The figure, still not used to the feral eyes watching with anticipation from the babe, shuddered slightly. Being a shinobi for numerous years, they had seen many things, but looking into the fierce, golden eyes of this child was like looking into the eyes of Death itself.  
"Pretty red." The cloaked shinobi whispered low before holding their finger to their lips to keep the child quiet. Turning away, they eyed the young chunin before attacking. It didn't take much to subdue the lower ranked ninja, but after the small scuffle had ended, the cloaked figure had the chunin on their knees in front of the basket. Their arms hung limply at their sides-paralyzed or broken, there wasn't a way to be sure in that moment-and the cloaked shinobi held them upright by holding a tight fist against their scalp. Dark brown locks were tangled in the superior's fingers as a kunai knife was produced in their other hand.  
"A baby?" The weaker ninja had managed to say with confusion after coughing. The cloaked shinobi didn't reply as they leaned the chunin towards the basket. The infant babbled while looking into the eyes of the boy on his knees. When the kunai was placed upon the chunin's throat, their eyes widened as they tried to scream, but it was cut short as they gargled and were drowning in their own blood as it spewed forth and gushed down their throat in thick streams. The blood soaked their clothes and skin in a deep red.  
The baby in the basket cooed while reaching out its hands to the pretty red that painted the dying chunin and the ground it had splattered onto. Giggling in a gleeful manner, the child watched intently as the moon's light reflected off of the blood dripping from the kunai and the large gash in the chunin's throat. To any that saw, it seemed as if the child found joy in the sight of the person dying in front of them. To the cloaked figure, they knew it was in fact true. The baby enjoyed death, but only if they got to see the pretty red that spilled forth from the victim's dying veins.  
"Truly a devil's child...." The cloaked shinobi muttered once more, giving this comment many times over the days spent with the infant as its eyes glittered and its tiny fists flailed. Tossing the young man's body to the side, it looked as if the newborn was finally sated for the time being. Cleaning off the kunai, the shinobi scooped up the basket and child before continuing to the village.  
From there, the baby was left on a random doorstep with a letter laying on top of the blanket wrapped around the sleeping baby. The letter, with its contents only surmising the infant's name and age, wasn't marked or stamped in any way to alert the finders of where it had come from. The couple that had been so unlucky as to have the child left on their doorstep hadn't a clue as to the fate of themselves and their new baby girl named Sayuri Saboten.  
~

  
Five. That was when I knew I was different. Five years old and enrolling into the shinobi academy, I learned that I was different by simply looking around at the other children and their parents. Each child, no matter how they looked, had one or two parents with them at least. I, on the other hand, lacked any.  
Four-that was when I had lost my parents. They had vanished without a trace one morning, and no one even bothered to explain to me why. However, even though it had been around a year since they had left, I hadn't realized that made me so different from the others.  
It was also about this time that I finally heard how the other adults in the village felt about me. I'd hear whispers as I walked, but I didn't pay them much mind on how they thought I was a Hellish, unruly child. As far as I could remember, I didn't talk to many people, but I did fight quite a bit because other kids would tease me.  
But, as I stood in front of the academy while parents were hugging their children goodbye and telling them to behave, I knew something was wrong with me. I just wasn't sure what other than the lack of a constant adult figure in my life at home or otherwise.  
As I attended the academy, I learned many things on the ways of shinobi, but I never really stood out with my grades or jutsu. I was more of an average student, neither excelling nor failing. I didn't talk to anyone other than my teachers when they asked a question, so no one ever saw me other than the quiet girl that went home alone.  
It was no secret that no one would be waiting for me at home, but that didn't bother me since I saw nothing wrong with it. I just knew that I wasn't an outcast, I was an insignificant pebble in the bed of a stream surrounded by other pebbles and rocks.  
Though, this all changed when it came time for me to graduate the Academy. Sitting among the wooden desks in the class, the teacher at the front of the room was making an announcement over the exam that would be held in another room. Once our name was called, we were to head there and preform a basic Clone Jutsu.  
Staring at my hands as I waited calmly, my name was one of the last to be called, and when it finally was, the entire class turned to look at me. They watched as I walked to the door and exited, curious as to whether I would pass or not. Like I had said, I didn't really stand out, so they had no idea what all I was capable of.  
Standing in a rather empty room before the Hokage, the old man looked at me carefully before lacing his fingers in front of him on the desk. He softly smiled while nodding, giving me the go ahead.  
"Go on. You can either produce one clone or as many as you like." His wise eyes glittered with kindness as he gently looked at me. The Hokage was looking at me as if I were a mere child rather than a developing shinobi. I don't know why, but it bothered me as I lightly frowned.  
Raising my hands, I stood with my feet shoulder-width apart while building up my chakra. I built up enough chakra to make at least two clones, but the Hokage and the man sitting next to him seemed unimpressed already. Did I really want to shirk by this exam? This would determine if I returned to the Academy or went on to be a Genin, so wouldn't I want to actually try....?  
Swallowing, I closed my eyes and built up more chakra. Gritting my teeth as my jaw clenched, I felt as if a hand with long nails ran through my hair from my bangs to the back of my head before a whispering voice sounded from my left ear. My eyebrows screwed together as I tried to listen-I already knew the hand through my hair wasn't real. But it happened any time I learned a new jutsu or built my chakra to a certain point.  
_'Kage Bunshin....'_ The quiet voice was like a soft breeze as I finally caught the words. My eyes snapped open as my hands slightly shifted.  
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I said out loud quickly before feeling my chakra form into the clones I had summoned. The Hokage's eyes widened in shock as only five clones stood around me while the man next to him jumped to his feet, causing his chair to fall over. Glancing at my clones, I felt disappointment....I had tried to make more.  
"Where did you learn that?" The Hokage's voice came out rather calm as he looked at me with calculating eyes. Dispelling the clones, I stood up straight as my arms fell limply to my sides. With my head tilted slightly down, I gazed at the Hokage.  
"Kami-sama." I replied with a tranquil voice before turning towards the door. Leaving the room, I headed back towards the classroom to wait for my results. Honestly, I didn't know who the voice belonged to that whispered to me from time to time, but I could only think of what to call it and Kami-sama seemed befitting since it always came when I really needed it.  
After the last of the class had been tested, the results were given as headbands lined the teacher's desk.  
I passed.


	2. First Exam

Now a Genin, I tied my Konoha headband around my upper arm so that I wouldn't lose it and it was on display at the same time. The weight of it was like a constant reminder that I made it this far, and I was determined to go farther. Being grouped with two other Genin named Torino and Hiroki, I simply glanced at them as we waited for our Jonin instructor.  
Torino had bright eyes that were gleefully watching the door as he excitedly talked with Hiroki. The two of them had dark brown hair, but Hiroki had nearly black eyes in contrast to the other boy. I was shorter than them both, but I could at least keep up. I remembered their abilities with their jutsus from classroom demonstrations and I knew I had to be at least between or ahead of them both in power.  
When our Jonin finally arrived, she looked us over closely before brightly smiling and telling us to follow her. She introduced herself as Megumi before asking for each of us to introduce ourselves to her in turn. From there, we spent the following months training and doing D, and a few C, ranked missions for practice.  
During one mission in particular, though, I seemed to finally draw the attention of our new sensei to myself and away from the two young and promising boys. I wasn't sure what exactly it was that made her really take a look at me, but it had to be around the time, or during, when we had to face another ninja on a C ranked mission.  
Torino and Hiroki had fared rather well for being Genin themselves, but were eventually knocked to the side. Megumi-sensei stood back, letting us fight as a form of development through experience. (It was a way she rather enjoyed teaching. She'd beat us down to teach us how to stand and build us up to teach us how to fall.) Being all that was left of us Genin, Megumi was waiting for me to fall as well before she stepped in, but she never had to.  
The second my eyes locked on the enemy and my hand wrapped around a kunai, it seemed the battle was set in my mind. Hands that felt as if they had long nails (or even possibly claws) ran through my hair from the back of my neck and held the sides of my skull as whispers came from just above my face.  
_'Achilles or calves, then a blow to the base of the skull.'_ And I obeyed, going with slicing the calves rather than the Achilles tendon. When the enemy ninja fell to their knees, eyes wide in fear and shock, I rammed the ring on my kunai into the back of his head, hitting at the base where it dipped. The shinobi went down, out cold as more whispers filled my ears. _'Dodge right.'_  
Jumping, a shuriken landed in the dirt where I had been standing and my eyes snapped up to see another ninja running at me. They had three more shurikens at the ready between their fingers, but the hands on the sides of my head didn't go away and neither did the whispers.  
 _'Go in when he swings, then slice deep into his thigh and bury the kunai between his ribs.'_ Without even second guessing it, I did as I was told. Dropping near the ground when the Shinobi threw the shurikens, I leapt to his opening and cut through the muscles across his thigh as I swung up. Immediately after, I planted my other palm firmly on the base of the kunai knife and jabbed it between his ribs as he registered the pain in his thigh.  
The blade went deep enough to impale his lung and he went down while having trouble breathing and squirming on the ground to back away from me.  
_'Cut the jugular.'_ The voice whispered as the grip on my skull grew slightly tighter. Pulling another kunai from the pouch on my right thigh, I stepped towards the fallen ninja. _'Cut the jugular.'_ The whispers repeated as I hesitated. Wouldn't that kill the shinobi? _'Cut the jugular.'_ And the hands tightened as I saw the blood coming from their wounds. _'Cut the jugular!_ ' The whispers hissed as it felt like the hands were pushing me towards the shinobi.  
_'Do it!'_ And the nails in my hair dug into my scalp as I looked down at the shinobi going for a kunai of his own as he was gasping for air. ' _Do it, Sayuri!'_ Holding my head in my own hands, I screamed to drown out the hissing that was repeating the command over and over again without pause. I took a step back, but the fallen shinobi in front of me took his chance since I was preoccupied. _'DO IT!'_ The whisper became a bellow and I swung the kunai towards the other ninja as Megumi was racing to interfere, thinking the ninja would get me first.  
It was quiet....so, utterly quiet now. Blood splattered the ground as I locked eyes with the shinobi. The hands in my hair were gone now, but I knew that whatever voice was speaking to me was pleased. My reaction had been faster, and I had cut the shinobi's throat wide open. That was the first time the voice had wanted me to kill....  
"Sayuri, are you okay?" Megumi-sensei hesitantly questioned as she reached a hand out towards me. Looking the older woman directly in the eyes, I wiped the blood from my cheek with the back of my sleeve, accidentally smearing it some.  
"I'm fine, Sensei." I calmly replied, and the expression on her face changed for a split second from concern to shock. Flinging the blood off of the kunai, I returned it to the pouch strapped to my thigh. "Torino and Hiroki may need medical attention, though." I stated while yanking the other kunai from the dead shinobi's ribs. Megumi was momentarily frozen, it was as if she wasn't expecting any of what had just happened from me of all people.  
However, she was quick to recover and went to the other Genins while I tied the unconscious ninja to a tree. Nothing notable happened from there on during that mission, but Megumi seemed to keep a closer eye on me from then on.  
~  
"I have recommended you three for the Chunin Exam." Megumi was looking at the three of us as we stood gathered around by a fountain. "Here, these are your applications." She then calmly handed each of us a paper.  
"Sayuri's getting one, too?" Torino questioned as the woman handed me an application as well.  
"Yes."  
"Way to go." Hiroki grinned at me as I glanced at him. Softly smiling, I felt comforted by the fact that they wouldn't advance without me. It's not that I didn't like them, it was just the simple fact that I had come to actually feel somewhat close to them and that was the first time I had felt that way in a very, very long time.  
"If you wish to participate, sign those and come to Room 301 at the Academy at 3:00 p.m. five days from now." Megumi crossed her arms. "I hope to see you all, but if one of you doesn't show, I'll understand. There's always next time as well, or whenever you are ready." She looked at each of us in turn with a calm expression on her face. "All right, that is all for now. If you have any questions, don't make yourself a stranger with me, okay? Just ask."  
From there, we three Genins dispersed, going our separate ways home. Over the next few days, I didn't think much about the exam since I was already certain I would register. When the day finally came, I met up with Torino and Hiroki outside of the Academy before we went inside.  
"So, are you nervous?" Torino questioned with his fingers laced behind his head as he walked.  
"Nah." Hiroki wiped his nose with one of his thumbs. "I can't wait to see what we'll do."  
"What about you, Sayuri? Are you nervous?" The light eyed boy smirked as he glanced at me. Smiling, I tilted my head while replying.  
"Not at all. I'm confident that we all can make it." And I caught how their cheeks went a little pink. "And you, Torino? Are you nervous?"  
"Pft, I'm not a baby." He scoffed while putting his nose in the air. "I bet I could be number one." Hiroki lightly punched Torino's shoulder.  
"Yeah, right. If anybody's going to be number one, it's gonna be me." He popped off just before we entered Room 301. I kept quiet, letting the boys playfully bicker until they were silenced by the atmosphere in the room. People from the other hidden villages filled the room, looking rather intimidating as they filled the room. By the door were the other nine rookie Genins that were also taking the exam. Were we the last team to arrive?  
"Whoa...." The boys mumbled, feeling the tense air surrounding everyone. A blond boy with a rather bright jumpsuit on looked our way and took a step forward while pointing.  
"Hey! There's another rookie team!" He not-so-quietly said, bringing attention to the three of us in the doorway.  
"....You're from the other class." A pink haired girl crossed her arms.  
"It looks like we're the only ones from our class to make it, too." Torino popped off while dropping his hands to his pockets as he looked at the other rookies. A dog yapping grabbed my attention, however, and my eyes wandered over to a little furball with a sharp-eyed boy looking at me.  
"Are you sure?" The boy mumbled to the white dog while giving me a calculating look. There were red marks on his cheeks and the fur on his dark jacket was black. As he talked, I caught glimpses of rather sharp canines in his mouth as well.  
"What is it, Kiba?" A brunette girl with twin buns on her head questioned and the boy smirked while eyeing me.  
"Akamaru said the girl has a lot of chakra."  
"Who? Sayuri?" Hiroki rose a brow while pointing at me with his thumb. "No offense, but I think you're mistaken. Sayuri hardly even uses any jutsu." And it seemed the blond ignored him as he jumped in front of me with his fists on his hips. Megumi-sensei hadn't told Torino or Hiroki about the incident with the two shinobi and I didn't like using jutsus since the whispers came whenever I built up chakra.  
"If you're so strong, how come I've never heard of you, huh?" The blue eyed boy leaned forward, looking at me with calculating eyes as another black haired boy was eyeing me from the side. His eyes were just as dark as his hair, but my main focus was on the loud blond in my face.  
"I don't shine." I quietly replied while rubbing my arm.  
"Huh? Shine? I don't get it." His face twisted with confusion just before Torino stepped between us.  
"You're making her uncomfortable, back off." The blond then turned to look at my teammate while smiling and rubbing his nose.  
"Am I that intimidating? I never knew! But if your pal is strong, I bet I'm stronger!" He then got this look on his face as his grin grew. Turning on his heel, he faced the rest in the room while placing on hand on his hip and pointing. "My name's Uzumaki, Naruto! I won't lose to any of you! Got it?!" He shouted grabbing everyone's attention in a not-so-pleasant manner.  
"Say, what's with him?!" A blonde female nearly shrieked while looking at the pink haired girl. "It won't do any good to provoke anyone!"  
"Don't tell me!" The other girl shouted back.  
"If I don't tell it to you, who do I tell it to?!" Crossing my arms and sort of hugging myself, I turned away from the rowdy bunch and walked to a corner. Leaning against the wall, I slid to the floor while sitting down and simply watched those surrounding me. Maybe if I could get a hang on their body language I could figure them out?  
Many of the people I could see seemed rather hostile, and the only friendly faces seemed to come from the other rookie Chunins by the door.... Also, I didn't miss how the Sound ninjas made a move and attacked the older boy with the rookies.  
"Silence, degenerates!" A voice bellowed as a puff of smoke came from the front of the room. As the smoke cleared, various shinobi stood in row behind a Leaf ninja covered in scars. "Sorry to keep you waiting," He smirked. "I'm Ibiki Morino, proctor for the first test of the Chunin Exam. "You! From the Hidden Sound Village!" He then pointed. "No doing as you please before the Exam! You want to be failed at the get go?!"  
"Sorry." The hunched over ninja turned to look at the proctor. "It's our first time taking the Exams, so we flipped out....despite ourselves."  
"Hmph. This is a good opportunity, so I'll say this. There will be no battles, competitions and the like without permission of the proctors! And even if you get permission, actions that could lead to the death of an opponent will not be permitted. Any pig that screws with me will be disqualified immediately." The man's expression sharpened. "Got it?" No one answered and the man took it as a sign that everyone got the picture. "Now then, we will start the first test of the Chunin Exam! Turn in your applications, take one of these number cards in exchange, and sit in the seat matching that number! After that, we will hand out the paper for the written test!"  
"A paper test?!" The blond from before shouted on his knees in horror. I shared his sentiments....  
Being seated, everyone was scattered about the room and I sat between two shinobi that were glaring at me from the sides of their vision.  
"There are several important rules to this first test." The shinobi covered in scars rose his voice while holding chalk to the board. "I will take no questions, so listen well accordingly! First off is the first rule! You are given ten points each from the start! The written test had ten problems in all! Each problem is one point. And this test is a point deduction system. You are deducted one point for each problem you get wrong!" He turned to look at us after writing on the board. If you get three wrong, you'll have seven points!" Ibiki explained.  
"The second rule." He gave us a rather serious look. Pass or failure will be determined by the total points of the three-person teams."  
"W-wait a minute! What do you mean....total points of the teams?" The pink haired girl rose her voice.  
"Shut up! There's a perfectly good reason for this! Shut up and listen! If you've got it, here is the most important next rule! Those who are deemed by the sentinels as having committed an act of cheating or something similar to that....will have two points deducted for each act." Ibiki smirked.   
"In other words....there may be those who will be dismissed during this test without waiting for test grading. Know that those who commit awkward cheating will bring ruin upon yourselves. If you aspire to become a Chunin at all, know that shinobi should act like exemplary shinobi. And, in the case of even one person on the team getting zero points.... Everyone on that team will fail. By the way, the last problem will be given forty-five minutes after the start of the test! The time for the test is one hour." He paused to let it all sink in before smirking. "Begin!"  
Calmly flipping the paper in front of me over, I picked up a pencil and wrote my name to start things off. Then, looking to the first problem, I carefully read the question. Oh, lord....what even was this test?  
Biting my lower lip, I glanced to the scarred man in the front of the room and remembered the rules. _'No awkward cheating, right?'_ I thought before slowly letting out my breath. Building up only a little bit of chakra, I felt a single hand run through my hair on the top of my head.  
"Please, help me, Kami-sama...." I mumbled, receiving weird looks from the two shinobi sat on either side of me.  
_'Mm, I have nothing better.'_ The whisper came from beside my right ear this time and I felt another hand on my wrist. _'Listen carefully...._ ' And the whispering voice quietly gave me the answers to the problems. I hoped that they were right, but it wouldn't be the first time if they weren't. Kami-sama sometimes made me mess up on purpose for entertainment, but it was never anything major, just a missed question here and there during the Academy.  
Not long after the test started, people were being called out left and right, disqualifying their teams from advancing in the exam. Calmly breathing, I glanced to Torino and Hiroki, checking on them to see how they were doing. Both were closer to the front of the room, so I didn't have to turn to look at them.  
Hiroki, if I wasn't mistaken, had his hands under the desk with his sleeves on top of it. Narrowing my eyes, I could see that Hiroki was doing some sort of jutsu. If Torino was doing the same, I couldn't tell because of my view was blocked. Well, if they were okay, then I didn't have much to worry about.  
Focusing on my paper, I scribbled down whatever the voice told me, putting my faith in the whispers while others around me were being called out for cheating.  
"I think we finished shaking off the losers." Ibiki smiled after over half of the room was emptied. "Then I guess I'll move onto the main issue. It has been 45 minutes, so I'll start. All right! Here is the tenth question! But before that," He paused. "I'm going to add some rules for the last question." Ibiki said before making a comment about dolls after a Sand ninja walked in. "Let me explain! These are the hopeless rules! First, you guys will have to choose whether or not you will take this 10th question!"  
"What? Choose?!" A voice spoke up from behind me. "What happens if you choose not to take the 10th exam question?"  
"If you chose not to take the exam, then your score will be zero. In other words, you fail!" Ibiki smiled devilishly. "And of course, the same goes for the two others in the same group!"  
"Of course, everybody is going to choose to take the exam!" Someone shouted.  
"This is ridiculous! As if we have a choice!"  
"And....one more rule...." The scarred man continued, ignoring the others as my grip tightened on the pencil in my hand. "If you choose to take it and are unable to answer it correctly, then you will have to....relinquish your right of taking the Chunin Exam forever." He said clearly while looking out over the room.  
"What kind of ridiculous rule is that?!" The boy called Kiba rose to his feet while pointing at the proctor. "Besides, there are plenty of people here who have taken the Chunin Exam many times!" The dog on his head yapped as if to back up his words.  
"You're just unlucky." Ibiki darkly chuckled. "I made the rule this year. But I did give you the option to go back! For those of you who aren't confident, you can choose not to take it and take the exam next year or the year after that." He chuckled some more before adding how if one backed out, all three would be failed in the team. "Then, let's begin. The 10th question.... Those who will not be taking it, raise your hands!" And the room was quiet for a good minute. Looking to my teammates, they were also looking at me. They both always did good on their written tests, so they looked rather confident while still looking shaken.  
I gave a sharp shake of my head, signaling to them that I wasn't quitting and they both smiled before turning back. So, we were set to go for the final question as others around us began raising their hands. Many people were apologizing to their teammates as they backed out, diminishing the numbers in the room once more.  
"I'll ask again. It's a choice that will alter your life." Ibiki spoke up, checking if anyone else had a change of mind. "If you want to quit, now is your chance!"  
"I'm not going to take back my words! That is my _'Way of Ninja'_!" The blue eyed blond in the front said firmly, smiling as he looked at the proctor.  
"78, huh? Much more left than expected." Ibiki stepped closer to the front desks. "I like your determination! Then....for those who are still here.... The first exam....you have passed it!" And my head hit the table as I deflated. What a relief....  
However, as the proctor was speaking with the others in the class, someone came bursting in through the window and had a large sign behind them. Jerking up in my seat as the woman stood there, she had fully grabbed my attention.  
"You guys! This isn't time to be celebrating! I'm the proctor for the second exam! Anko Mitarashi! Let's move onto the next stage! Next!" She shouted. "Follow me!" She then threw her hand into the air.  
"Read the atmosphere." Ibiki peeked around the cloth sign to look at the other proctor that was blushing with embarrassment.  
"78?! Ibiki! You let 26 teams slide by?" The second proctor looked to the first after seeing how many people were in the room. "I guess the first exam this time around was too easy."  
"It seems like this time, there are a lot of excellent candidates." The scarred man replied with a smile.  
"Huh. All right, I'll drop more than half of them in the second exam!" Looking to my teammates once more, I felt an inkling of being nervous. "I'll give you the details tomorrow. We'll be changing locations, so get information from your Jonin about the location and the time! That's it. You're dismissed."  
Rising from my seat, I carefully made my exit before Torino or Hiroki could catch up. They didn't reach me until we were outside of the Academy and heading home. The two boys animatedly talked to each other as I followed behind them, wondering what the next exam would be like. Would I have to rely on Kami-sama next time, too? Well, I didn't actually the first round, but I hadn't known the questions were meaningless to begin with....


	3. Second Exam

"This is the location for the second exam," The second proctor said as we stood before a tall fence surrounding large trees in a forest. "the 44th Training Field. Also known as....the Forest of Death." She was smiling with a glint in her eye, but we were momentarily interrupted by some children from the Academy for interviews. It only lasted a little while, so it wasn't long before we were back to the main issue at hand-the exam.  
"This place is called the Forest of Death, you'll soon realize why." The proctor had that smile again. Up front, I saw the blond in the orange jumpsuit put the back of his hands onto his hips before he mocked the woman while....was he wiggling? What in the world would you even call what he was doing?  
"The Forest of Death, you'll soon realize why." Naruto, as he had called himself before, seemed to not care at all that the woman could more than likely kick his ass. "That kind of threat won't work on me one bit!" He then stood up straight while talking to the proctor. "I'm not scared!" He then pointed.  
"Really?" Anko smiled with mock sincerity while slightly tilting her head and closing her eyes. "You've got a lot of energy." She moved rather fast as she dropped a kunai from her sleeve and threw it at the blond, grazing his cheek before quickly getting behind him. "A kid like you dies at the very beginning, dappled with the red blood I like." And as she was taunting Naruto, she quickly dropped another kunai from her sleeve and was ready to attack the person that had come up behind her.  
Swallowing, I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. I was confident in my fighting skills and I knew I could rely on accurate information from Kami-sama when I was battling, but ever since the incident involving the ninja I killed, they had whispered for me to end the life of everyone I had fought since then. I managed to hold back the voice, but with the way things were looking, would I continue to be able to?  
I mean, I was only sparring and practicing since then, but could I keep Kami-sama at bay in a real life-or-death battle? Looking to my teammates, I calmly took a deep breath. For these two, I'd have to.  
"Well, before we start the second exam, I have to pass this out to you!" Anko rose her voice as she walked back towards the fence. She then pulled a stack of papers from her jacket and slightly smiled. "It's a consent form, before you take part in the test you have to sign this."  
"Why?" Naruto questioned.  
"From here on out, corpses are going to come out, I have to get your consent to that!" Anko then smiled again. "Or it'll be my responsibility." She laughed rather lightly about the situation. "Well, I'm going to start the explanation for the second exam. In other words, the limits of your survival will be challenged." She handed the stack of papers to Naruto and he passed it on while keeping one consent form for himself.  
"First, I'll give you step-by-step instructions on the terrain of this Training Field." The proctor unrolled a map of the forest. "Training Field #44 is surrounded by 44 locked entrance gates, there are rivers and a forest and a tower in the middle. It's about 10 kilometers from the tower to the gate.... In this confined area, you will go through a certain survival program. The contents of which are....anything goes scroll battle!" Anko put away the map into her jacket before holding up two scrolls.  
"Scroll?"  
"Yes." Anko nodded. "I want you to fight for two scrolls, the Heaven Scroll and the Earth Scroll. All together, 26 teams got through the first test. Half of them....13 teams get the Heaven Scroll, the other half get the Earth Scroll. I'll hand over one scroll to each team. To put it simply, that's what you're vying for."  
"And the conditions to pass?" The black haired boy with Naruto questioned.  
"Three of you bring both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls to the tower in the center." Anko replied.  
"That means that of the 26 teams, half of them will fail for sure...." The pinkette stated.  
"Except it has to be in time. For this second exam, the limit is 120 hours. Do it in exactly five days!" The proctor pocketed the scrolls.  
"Five days?!" The blonde female stepped up.  
"What do we do about food?!" The guy beside her asked.  
"Be self-sufficient! It's a treasure trove in the wilderness. There's more than enough for food...." Was the answer.  
"However, it's teaming with fierce people-eating animals, poison bugs, poisonous weeds, and much more." Someone else stated.  
"No way...." The food worried male slouched.  
"Fool, that's why it's called survival!" The blonde snapped at him.  
"Besides, it's improbable that 39 people, 13 teams, will pass."  
"The interval for activity gets longer with passing each day, while the time for recovery gets shorter.... Seems pretty grueling!" Two others in the front spoke up.  
"On top of that, you're surrounded by enemies....even falling asleep will be a problem."  
"And, besides, those injured during attempts to capture scrolls....there will definitely be people who are unable to endure the rigors of the course." Anko continued.  
"Umm....so you can quit in the middle of it?" A boy raised his hand.  
"According to the rules, you cannot give up in the middle of it!" The proctor placed her hands onto her hips. "I want you to spend five days in the forest." She grinned. "Moving on, conditions of disqualification. Number 1, if all three members of the team can't make it to the tower with the Heaven and Earth Scrolls within the time limit." She held up a finger. "Number 2, if a team loses a member or if a member became incapacitated." Another finger rose. "There's that, and this is a supplement.... Absolutely do not look at the contents of the scrolls until you have reached the tower!"  
"W-what happens if we look at it halfway through?" Naruto questioned.  
"If you look, you will find out!"  
"Huh?"  
"There are times when a Chunin must deal with super-secret text. This is to test your reliability. That's all the explanation! I'll exchange your three consent forms for the scrolls in that hut over there." Anko pointed to the wooden structure a few yards off with three people sat under it. "After that, pick your entrance, and all the gates will open simultaneously! Finally," She sighed. "just a word of advice.... Don't die!"  
From there, the large group broke as people went off to think about the consent form and talk to their teammates over the matter. Torino and Hiroki sat on the ground while facing each other as I crouched in front of them. As far as it was looking those two were going ahead with the exam. They turned to look at me with gentle smiles.  
"So, will you be okay with this?" Hiroki asked.  
"We'll understand if you want to try the exam next time, life and death are very serious matters." Torino added. Resting my chin on the backs of my hands as they laid on my knees, I gave a reassuring smile.  
"Don't worry guys, I'm fine."  
"What, are you going to pray to Kami-sama and hope for the best?" Torino teased while poking my shoulder. I had mentioned Kami-sama to them many times whenever they asked about new jutsus I learned or how I was so quick with my reflexes.  
"She doesn't pray to 'em, she just asks for help." Hiroki lightly pushed Torino. "Don't you pay attention?" They were making light of it, but they just didn't understand that I really did hear a voice telling me what to do.  
"Honestly, I'm stronger than you guys think."  
"Ooh, Sayuri has hidden power, huh?" Torino smirked. "We better pass this exam, then." And from there, it was certain that all three of us would turn in our consent forms. When we went to get a scroll, we received a Heaven Scroll and Hiroki ended up being the one to hang onto it. Waiting in front of an entrance to the Forest of Death, it felt like there was a buzz in the air.  
The atmosphere was tense and serious, leaving little to no room for jokes since the fact that any one of us could die hung over our heads like a storm cloud. Torino and Hiroki gave me one last look as I lightly smiled. They really had no idea what all I was capable of since they had been knocked out when I took down those two shinobi and ended up killing one of them.  
When the gates were unlocked and opened, the three of us quickly raced into the forest to begin the exam. The weight of the Konaha headband on my shoulder reminded me that I had to remain calm for my team so that we could rise in the ranks of being a shinobi.  
Hours passed without a sign of any other people, and it seemed as if the other teams had gone into hiding or something. Looking to Torino, he nodded and took the lead. The boy, despite cracking jokes and all of his playful teasing, was a Hell of a tracker. If any of us could find another team with a scroll, it would be Torino with his sharp eyes and wit.


	4. Kami-sama's Control

It took a day, but we managed to find another team. Crouched down in the bushes with the boys on either side of me, we watched the three Mist shinobis as they were crouched around a map drawn into the dirt. They were speaking low as one was pointing things out with a stick.  
"Should we split them up and take one each?" Hiroki whispered without taking his eyes off of the trio in front of us.  
"That sounds like a good idea, but we don't know anything about them." Torino replied. "I think it would be better to wait until a prime opportunity to just snatch the scroll."  
"Mm, I think a surprise attack might be a good idea." A voice said from behind us and we twisted around. One of the Mist ninjas was crouched behind us, somehow sneaking up when we were focused on the others. Glancing back at the trio, my eyes widened.  
"A clone!" I whispered low.  
"You're smart." The ninja smirked before rising to his feet and kicked the three of us out of the bushes and into the open. "Hey guys, look what I found." The shinobi stepped out from the bushes and slipped his hands into his pockets.  
"I was wondering when you'd find them." The one holding the stick looked up. "3 rookies with one a kunoichi?" He rose a brow. "Did you really think you could take us?"  
"Never know until you try." Hiroki popped off while getting to his feet. Cautiously eyeing the shinobis, I knew we were in deep trouble.  
"All right, kid. Just hand over the scroll and we won't make a big deal out of it." The ninja tossed the stick in his hand to the side as the clone by him disappeared.  
"Like Hell." Torino already had a kunai in his hand. "Sayuri, stay back." He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him.  
"Oh, protecting the little girl, huh? If she can't handle a fight, how do you to expect her to be a shinobi?" The other ninja smirked while looking at us with a glint in his eye. A fight was looking unavoidable at this point and the two boys were eyeing the Mist ninjas. Swallowing, I crossed my fingers while looking over Torino's shoulder. Building up my chakra, I felt the fingers running through my hair from my bangs back. There was a low chuckle in my ear and no one seemed to notice what I was doing. Good.  
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" And at least ten clones appeared in the small forest clearing, taking everyone by surprise. "Rather than threatening each other, why don't we see who deserves the scrolls?" I calmly said while stepping out from behind Torino.  
"Shadow clones, huh? Pretty impressive for a rookie, and a kunoichi no less." The guy seeming to be the leader smiled devilishly while pulling a kunai from his thigh. "I like you're idea." His eyes narrowed before he summoned clones of his own. Pushing Torino out of the way when the shinobi lept at me, I quickly grabbed one of my kunais and managed to block the attack.  
As if setting something off, the other two ninjas began to fight Hiroki and Torino as clones fought clones and I fought the shinobi with the insane grin.  
_'Block left, put weight on your right foot, and push forward.'_ The whispers began and I obeyed without hesitation as I felt the bloodlust coming from the guy in front of me. Already I could tell he wasn't the same as the other ninjas I had fought. He had a killer gleam in his eyes and the clones were going in a puff of smoke with each well placed blow.  
Jumping back momentarily, I summoned more clones for protection as the man was coming at me with three of his own clones. Torino and Hiroki were barely hanging on, but they were managing and that was all I cared about in that moment. The voice whispering in my ear guided me as I tightly held onto my kunai. Gritting my teeth as I felt a stinging cut on my cheek, I barely was able to dodge the blade going for my face.  
"Come on, Kunoichi, you have to do better than a few Shadow Clones!" He chuckled darkly and I dropped to the ground to get a free kick to his chin. As my leg shot out to strike, the shinobi grabbed my foot and I froze as he looked down at me with crazed eyes and a huge grin fit for the insane. This guy was actually looking for blood.... The man twisted my foot to the side and kicked my knee. I screamed out in pain as a loud crack filled the air.   
"Sayuri!" Hiroki shouted, running towards me after managing to knock out the ninja he had been battling. Before he could reach me though, I had to think quickly to keep him away from the bloodthirsty man. Gritting my teeth I stabbed my kunai into his calf and reached my hand into his jacket. During our fight, I had caught a brief glimpse of a scroll and hoped it was the one we needed.  
"Hiroki! Take this!" I shouted while throwing it. The shinobi growled before punching me in the jaw. The voice in my ear hissed, displeased with the pain exploding my nerves from my knee and face.  
_'You're going to lose.'_ The hand in my hair shifted to where it was on the side of my head as another hand was placed on the other side. _'Intend to kill.'_ It told me. _'You're holding back.'_ The voice growled as I felt claws lightly digging into my scalp.  
"No...." I mumbled while forcing myself off of the ground. Balancing on my one good leg, I quickly used my chakra to create a wall of clones between Hiroki and the shinobi I had been fighting since the man was intending to take back the scroll. He plowed through them.  
_'Do it!'_ The whispering voice hissed. ' _Do it, or you all die!'_ Throwing a few shurikens at the shinobi, his attention was drawn back to me.  
"So, breaking your leg wasn't enough, huh?" He sneered. "I guess I'll just have to break you even more." An evil grin pulled at his lips before he came after me.  
_'Just kill him!'_ And it felt like the nails were digging deeper into my scalp. ' _If you won't, I will!_ ' The whisper growled as the grip tightened on my head.  
"No!" I snarled, using chakra focused in the bottom of my foot to keep me standing since my other leg was fairly useless at the time being. The voice was no longer telling me how to fight and just kept demanding for me to kill the shinobi. The clashes of our kunai rang in my ears as my heart was pounding. This was the first time I was in such pain or being pushed into a corner by an opponent.  
"Any last words?" The Mist ninja snarled after knocking the weapon from my hand. His arm shot out and his large hand wrapped around my throat. My entire body froze up-the man had a hold on the most vulnerable part of me. Grabbing his wrist, I tried to pull him off, but it was hard to focus with Kami-sama screeching for blood in my ears. From the corner of my eye I saw Torino go down and Hiroki fighting off the other ninja that had regained consciousness.  
The shinobi held the kunai knife against my throat and pressed the blade against my skin until blood was beading around the kunai. As soon as I smelt my own blood, a searing pain came from my skull as it felt like my head was splitting in half. Screaming while holding my head in one hand, the shinobi looked pleased, thinking my pained screams were caused by his hands.  
The feeling of hands in my hair vanished as I felt a powerful chakra building up within me. Screaming as it felt like my skin was burning, the shinobi holding me was staring at me, his expression slowly changing as he felt the shift in atmosphere. There was a pulse and the ninja was sent flying back as I fell to my knees. Cradling my head as I fought to stay conscious, black was pulling at the edges of my vision and I heard cracking as my leg somehow righted itself.  
My head suddenly flew back as I tried to scream for help from the Heavens, but all that came from my throat was a beastly roar that shook the surrounding trees. Power....it was there. I could feel it like fire running through my veins as my heart was pounding in my ears.  
What was that smell? Oh, it smelt so good.... _'Hungry.'_ I thought while dropping my head to look straight ahead. A man was scrambling to his feet, eyes wide as he looked at me. Shifting to where I was crouched like a cat ready to pounce, I watched as the frightened man pointed at me.  
"D-Demon!" He cried before I was suddenly on him and digging my fangs into his soft throat. The hot blood running down my chin and over my tongue felt like gasoline as it burned my throat from the heat. Fear. It was fear I was smelling, and oh, was it nice. Shaking my head, I snapped the man's neck and dropped him. Turning my head, I saw another adult advancing on a limp pile of flesh on the ground.  
Going for the one still moving, I dug my claws into his shoulders as I landed on his back. He shouted in surprise, stumbling forward while I licked my bloody lips hungrily. I could feel my sharp teeth grazing my tongue as I dug my claws deeper until he was screaming.  
Parting my jaws, I bit down on his shoulder, tearing through his flesh and clothes as I ripped a chunk from his shoulder. Blood flung into the air from the wound and the bloody piece of meat and cloth handing from my mouth. Spitting onto the ground as the man buried a kunai into my thigh, I grabbed the side of his head as my claws cut into his scalp. Jerking his head to the side, I took another bite out of him from his neck.  
When he finally bled out, I pulled the kunai from my thigh as the wound was steaming. It was closing rather quickly and my eyes scanned the area for more. Throwing the kunai, it impaled a tree and I spotted another large figure with a much smaller one. The small one wasn't worth my time-he'd break too easily-so I stepped towards the bigger one. My tongue ran over my top lip as I locked eyes with the man.  
He glanced to the two others in puddles of blood behind me before turning and dashing off into the forest. _'Chase.'_ I contently purred before dropping to all fours and giving chase. The man was fast, but I was faster, and to have a little fun I'd nip at his heels as he tried to outrun me.  
Clawing at his clothes, I covered him in cuts as he ran past trees and lept over bushes. Oh, he was trying so hard to lose me, but no matter what, his efforts were futile. The smell of his blood and fear fueled me in my pursuit until I grew bored and tackled him. Pinning the man to the ground, I grinned maliciously down at him as his cheek was pressed into the dirt. He was whimpering and begging for mercy, but I had none for him.  
Ripping through the back of his neck with my teeth, blood stained the grass and pooled in the dirt. Tearing through the guy without caring that he was already dead, I didn't stop until I smelt more fear. It was suffocating and my eyes darted up to see three more people, two males and a female. Grinning from ear to ear at them, I crawled off of the carcass of the runner and moved towards them.  
Two managed to break away from the group and sprint for their lives, but one of the males had become frozen in his place with fear as he sensed my bloodlust. He was an easy target, so I made quick work of him and chased after the female that had taken to the trees. Leaping up onto a high branch, I followed her scent and tracked her down rather quickly. She was just as easy to kill as the guy that hadn't even fought back.  
Letting her body slide off over the side of the branch I had torn her apart on, I put my nose in the air to find the other male. His fear was faintly coming from my right and I headed off in that direction. As his scent grew stronger, my jaws ached to sink my teeth into his flesh.


	5. Binding Sand

As I was jumping from the tree to the ground, my vision narrowed in on a boy standing in a small clearing with an expressionless face. _'....Pretty aka....'_ I thought while glancing at his spiky hair. His eyes widened a small fraction, but there was no hint of fear.... Digging my claws into the dirt, I lowly growled while baring my teeth. _'Hungry.'_ Pouncing, I swiped my claws at his face, but I instead made contact with sand. Sand?

Kicking out, sand swelled up from the ground and effectively blocked my attack. _'Power.'_ I mentally purred. _'Hungry....'_ He remained standing there, unmoving as his arms hung at his sides. The boy calmly watched as I failed every attempt to hit him, being stopped by sand. Jumping back, I flexed my claws and stretched, hearing the vertebrae in my spine popping.

Quickly running at him, I jumped and spun while throwing my foot out. My heel broke through the sand as it seemed too slow for my speed, but my foot was still too far to land a hit on his face. Hopping behind him, I jumped onto his back faster than the sand could react and wrapped my arms around his neck as I placed my feet onto the large gourd on his back.

"Power...." I purred before licking his cheek and tasting the chakra coursing through his body. Sand wrapped around my torso and threw me back into a tree. Landing on my hands and feet, I clung to the bark while hungrily licking my lips. "Hungry." And I lept at him once more. He calmly raised a hand and sand snatched me out of the air and pinned me to the ground. Growling as I clawed at the small grains, more just fell in place of where I had swiped my hands.

I couldn't kick my legs out due to the sand, but that didn't stop me from trying as I struggled against the soil while the boy calmly stepped towards me. The smell of the power he possessed made my stomach clench with hunger as he got closer. There was a pulse that radiated out from my body and the sand shuddered. Breaking through, I tried to escape, but as I was rising from the ground, sand wrapped around my arms up to my elbows. Encasing my legs up to my thighs, my limbs were trapped as I was trying to jerk them free and get to the boy.

Though young, he smelled delicious- even better than the others I had chased down. Practically drooling as he stood a foot away and still out of my reach, he grabbed my chin in a firm hold and forced me to look him in the eye. Oh....

"You're attracted by chakra?" His voice was low as he blankly stared down at me. Sticking out my tongue, I licked at the fingers on my chin, tasting that power again as a shiver ran up my spine. "And you feed off of it...." He trailed off as his eyes wandered over my face.

"Gaara!" A female voice called as another person burst into the clearing. "Don't just disappear like that!" And she stopped in her tracks while going wide-eyed at what she saw. "What....?" And another person, male this time, followed close behind her. Sure, they had quite a bit of chakra themselves, but it was nothing compared to the boy in front of me.

"You look like a wolf." The boy calmly stated before glancing to his free hand as it rose in front of him. "You'll just annoy me if you stay like this." He added, knowing that I'd keep coming after him now that I had his scent. Looking me dead in the eye with that emotionless face, the boy then covered my mouth with his free hand and I felt the chakra building up in his palm.

Greedily devouring the chakra as he was forcing it down my throat, I felt my skin buzz from the build-up of power. Warmth swirled in my belly as I feasted, and the boy seemed unfazed by the amount of chakra he was pushing into my mouth. Not really concerned by his well-being, I only focused on wolfing down the chakra smoothly running over my tongue.

However, for some reason, my body felt as if it were growing heavy the more I ate. As my stomach filled, my eyelids were growing rather heavy and were half closed by the time the boy pulled his hand back and wiped his palm off on his pants. Panting as I licked my lips, I felt so tired....so....sleepy....

~

Gasping as I woke up, I clutched a hand over my heart while feeling my pulse pounding. Breathing rather heavily, my eyes widened as I quickly looked around. _'Where in the world am I?!'_ My mind screamed, seeing some sort of building surrounding me. The floor was cold as I sat on it, and the walls rose high over my head.

Gulping, I tried to recall how I got here, but the last thing I could remember was fighting some Mist shinobi in the forest.

"You're awake." I nearly jumped out of my skin from the voice suddenly coming from my right. My head whipped to the side, coming face to face with the guy that had the puppet in the first exam. The painted purple lines covering his face were rather strange, but the fact that he was crouched right beside me was even stranger. Quickly reacting, I twisted around while producing a kunai and crouched a few feet away to put some distance between us.

"Where's Hiroki and Torino?" I glared, tightening my grip on the weapon in my hand.

"You probably killed them." A girl came up from behind the boy with her arms crossed, standing there while looking at me with a sour expression.

"I won't ask again." Ignoring her comment, I looked at them, trying to read if they'd unknowingly give away a hint as to where my teammates were.

"We don't know a Hiroki or a Torino." The boy calmly closed his eyes before rising to his feet and placing his hands into his pockets. "But if they were you're teammates, they're probably dead already." I felt my blood run cold.... What had happened between us and those Mist ninjas?

"What?" My voice was quiet. "That can't be, we were just...." Looking to the ground I tried to remember what had happened, but nothing but a blur was coming to my mind of when the shinobi I had been fighting was going for me. Clenching my jaw as I groaned, my free hand held my aching head. Why couldn't I remember?

Forcing my eyes open to look at the two in front of me, my attention was instead drawn to two people being tossed in front of me. They grunted as they hit the ground, but I recognized them in seconds and nearly felt tears pricking at my eyes.

"Hiroki! Torino!" I excitedly called, feeling the pain in my skull ebb away as the corners of my mouth rose. Upon hearing my voice, the two boys looked up to see me. "You guys are okay!" Stepping forward, I was going to hug them since I felt so relieved, but the looks in their eyes as they scrambled back stopped me.

I froze in my steps, taking in their looks of utter terror upon seeing me. Their eyes were wide with fear as I could even see them trembling on the floor.

"Guys, what's wrong-?" And I was cut off by Torino.

"Stay back!" He said loudly as his voice wavered. I had never seen them like this....

"Don't come any closer, you monster!" Hiroki's voice cracked as he rose a hand as if to keep me back. His last word cut me deep-how was I a monster?

"Guys, I-"

"No!" They both shouted as I took a single step forward. They had visibly flinched with my movement, and I was so confused as to why they were behaving this way towards me. Then, as if it had clicked like a light-switch, I smiled.

"Okay, I get it." I crossed my arms. "Are you two trying to prank me again? It's not going to work. It hasn't worked since we teamed up."

"Don't come near us, demon!" Hiroki said as they nearly hit the other ninjas' legs behind them.

"Demon....? Is that the gimmick this time?" I questioned.

"There is no joke." My eyes wandered up to the boy that had spoken. He held a blank expression as he simply stood there. Was he the one that had tossed Torino and Hiroki? "They are scared of you." His voice was an unwavering calm as his pale green, practically teal, eyes looked at me.

"What are you talking about?"

"You have a monster inside of you." He stated without blinking. "You lost control of it somehow and went berserk. I found at least five bodies, but there may be more."

"No, you've got to be kidding." I chuckled. "Did you two somehow get this kid in on your joke?" Looking to Torino and Hiroki, I saw hey they flinched under my gaze.

"Being in denial won't take back what you have done." The redhead spoke once more. "Look at your clothes." His eyes drifted down from my face, his expression never changing as he was unreadable. Feeling my heart slowly pick up pace, I didn't really want to. If whatever was on my clothes proved what they were saying, did I really want to know? Did I really want to know that I might've killed at least five innocent people during the exam?

However, if it were true, I needed to know....

Looking down, I felt my face pale as my blood turned to ice in my veins. Dark red splattered my clothes and completely covered the ends of my sleeves and my chest. Taking a step back, I felt lightheaded. Looking at my hands, I could see specks of dried blood under my nails and the kunai fell from my hand before clattering on the floor.

"I-" My voice was quiet before my throat constricted and cut off my words. _'Oh, my....'_ I thought while staring down at my stained sleeves. I needed to remember. What had happened for me to lose control? Did....did Kami-sama have something to do with it?

No, I trusted Kami-sama. They'd never put me through that. _'But....what if?'_ My mind whispered, voicing doubt since the voice in my ears had turned more violent recently.

Glancing at Torino and Hiroki, I could only imagine why they were so fearful of me. If Kami-sama had anything to do with my black-out, than there wasn't any hesitation in thinking that they had seen something horrifying. The voice was my guide as I fought, telling me were to strike and cut and I knew that they were smart, so there was no way for me to be certain as to what had happened.

Looking at the two huddled together, I couldn't describe what I felt, but I knew it hurt.

"Turn in the scrolls with your team now that you are conscious." The girl spoke up while eyeing me before looking down to my teammates.

Somehow, we managed to get rid of the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, but neither Torino or Hiroki would even look at me. When Megumi-sensei had appeared, she only saw the way we looked and kept quiet. Seeing how the boys were all beat up and I was covered in blood, she probably assumed the same thing that had happened during that mission had happened again....

Upon request, I had been allowed to clean up and change my clothes. Also, as soon as Megumi-sensei had left, Torino and Hiroki were back to steering clear of me and avoiding eye contact. Keeping my head down, I walked around the building while waiting for the second part of the exam to end.

"What is the last thing you remember?" My head jerked up at the voice, seeing the redhead standing in front of me with his arms crossed. His expression was blank and unreadable, but there was a strange look in his eyes as he was waiting for a reply.

"What?"

"What is the last thing you remember? You might be able to figure out why you lost control." He stated, not even blinking. As if on cue, the image of the Mist shinobi choking me flashed in my head. Without thinking, my hand unconsciously went to my throat. I could vaguely remember the cool metal of a kunai knife being pressed to my skin in this vulnerable spot, but nothing was clear after that.

His tired yet fierce looking eyes didn't miss the action of my hand rising, and he seemed to get an idea as to what I was thinking.

"You're throat is a weak spot. Someone managed to get to it?"

"With a kunai." I slowly nodded, turning my head to the side while dropping my gaze. Swallowing, I could safely assume that that was the reason I had lost control. It was also safe to assume that Kami-sama may have done something to me upon seeing the amount of danger I had been in.

"Don't move." His voice flatly demanded, causing my eyes to return to him as he was walking closer. Was he not afraid? Even after seeing what I had done in the forest? Tensing up as he neared me, I didn't want to risk hurting him as well, but his eyes kept me from backing away.

Without changing his expression or flinching, he stood right in front of me, being around eye-level with me. Dropping his hands, he suddenly pulled my headband off of my arm before firmly grabbing the ends of it. My brows furrowed in confusion, wondering what in the world he was doing.

His eyes dropped to the headband in his hands, watching it as he raised the Konoha symbol. Flinching when it touched my throat, I froze as he began to tie it around my neck. Tightening the knot in the back, he then returned his blank look to me before pressing his finger onto the metal plate with the swirling leaf.

"If it's a weakness, you cover it with armor." He stated flatly. Turning, he looked at me from the corner of his eye. "The third exam is starting soon." Then, he walked away rather calmly despite the dangerous air surrounding him. Furrowing my brows, I touched the headband now tied around my neck.

Sure, it could protect my throat, but why had that boy given me such advice? However, despite the strange encounter, I found comfort in the weight of the headband around my neck. The metal plate on the headband was pretty tough, so maybe it would work to help me keep control if my throat really was the trigger....


	6. Leaving

"First off, congratulations on finishing the second exam." The woman from the beginning of the exam called out. Standing in rows were the teams that had passed, and I was behind Hiroki and Torino who were standing rather tense. Neither of them looked over their shoulder to me, but I could understand why as I dropped my head and held my arm.

In front of us all were the teachers, the Hokage, and a statue of hands together in the formation of the ram. We were in a large room with a balcony high up on the wall and the stairs that led up to it were on either side behind us.

"Now then, we will now have the explanation of the third exam from Master Hokage. Listen carefully, everybody."

"All right." The old man nodded, his hands behind his back as a pipe hung from his mouth. He stepped forward before clearing his throat. "Before the explanation of the third exam that we will start from now, I have just one thing I want to tell everyone flat out. About the true purpose of these exams. Why do allied nations conduct the exams on a conjoint basis?" He began as I raised my eyes to look.

"Raising the levels of the shinobi and friendship among allied nations. It won't do to have the wrong idea of the true meaning of that statement. These exams are, so to speak...." The Hokage took the pipe from his lips and blew out some smoke. "A microcosm of battles between allied nations."

"What does that mean?" A girl asked.

"If we look back on history, the allied nations of today were once neighboring nations that continued to vie with each other and battle for power. In order to avoid a futile crushing of each others' military strength, those nations mutually selected a place to battle. And that was how the Chunin Exams originally began."

"W-why do we have to do such a thing?" Naruto questioned. "We're not doing this to select Chunins?!"

"There is no question that these exams are to select shinobi worthy of becoming Chunin. But on the other hand, these exams also provide a venue for shinobi who carry their nation's pride on their backs to fight for their lives!" The Hokage answered. "Many feudal lords and those of prominence from many nations who request shinobi for work are invited to this third exam as guests. And, the feudal lords and Head Ninja of each village of the nations will watch your battles. If the gap in national power becomes unbridgeable, the strong nations are inundated with job requests. The requests of the nations deemed weak, on the other hand, decline. And therewithal, we can exert pressure upon each neighboring nation.... That is to say, just how much military strength our Village is developing and has."

"Even so, why is it necessary for us to fight for out lives?!" The boy with the dog shouted.

"The nation's strength is the Village's strength. The Village's strength is the shinobi's strength. The true strength of the Shinobi is created only in a fight for one's life!" Images of the Mist ninja choking me flashed in my head. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I crossed my arms over my chest while sort of hugging myself. "This exam is a place to see the strength of home country shinobi, and a place to see this as well. It is because it's an exam where you truly fight for your life that this has meaning. It's for this very reason that your forerunners fought in this exam, a dream worth striving for."

"Then why....why use the expression _'friendship'_?!"

"I said it at the start, didn't I? That it won't do for you to have the wrong idea of the meaning! It's a custom where balance is preserved by fighting and removing life. This is the friendship of the shinobi world. This is a fight for life with the pride of the village and one's own dream on the line."

"Heh, I'm convinced." Naruto crossed his arms while smirking.

"Just tell us the content of that fight-for-life test." The redheaded boy from before was glaring.

"Very well. Now then, this is where I'd like to explain the third exam. But actually...." The Hokage cleared his throat as a ninja appeared before him.

"Master Hokage, please allow me, Hayate Gekko, who was given the task of judge, to speak first."

"I leave it to you." The old man stated.

"Nice to meet you, everyone...." The ninja then rose to his feet before turning to us. "Umm, there's something....I'd like you all to do....before the third exam." He coughed. "And that is a preliminary to the third exam, with participation in the main battle on the line."

"What do you mean preliminary?!"

"Sensei, I don't understand the point of that preliminary." The pinkette rose her voice to be heard. "Why aren't we doing the next exam with the remaining test-takers?"

"This time around, perhaps because the first and second exams were easy, there are a few too many people left, you see. In accordance with the rules of the Chunin Exams, a preliminary will be held in order to reduce the number advancing."

"N-No way!"

"As Lord Hokage said before, many guests will be coming to the third exam. So we can't have long, pointless matches and our time is limited as well. Therefore, those of you not in top physical condition...." He trailed off before coughing some more. "Those of you who wish to drop out, please speak up now. The preliminary will begin immediately, so..."

"Immediately, you say?!"

"Ah...I forgot to mention this, but it will be individual battles from now on. It is your decision, so feel free to raise your hands and drop out." Hiroki and Torino both dropped their heads, their shoulders shaking a bit. What was going on?

It was deathly quiet as they both slowly raised their hands, not looking anywhere but at the floor. Those around us turned to them with shocked expressions as both of them were displaying such behavior while dropping out with victory so close at hand.

"The both of you?" The ninja up front questioned while looking at papers he held.

"Wait, why are you leaving her?" Naruto spoke up. "I thought you guys were in this together!"

"Shut up!" Hiroki snapped at the blond as I dropped my gaze to the ground.

"But....you guys told me before that-"

"You don't know!" Torino cut him off while looking to the boy with wide eyes. "You don't know what that _thing_ can do!" He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at me. I held myself tighter, feeling the eyes on me. It was different from before when the mothers would pull their children from me. Back then, they just didn't like me for my behavior, but now....now the eyes looking at me held fear. "You weren't there when-" Torino cut himself off.

"Just get us away from that monster." Hiroki spoke up.

"You both may leave." The man up front called as people were still looking at me. Hiroki and Torino didn't dare pass me to leave, making a rather obvious move by going around the other teams instead.

"Sayuri, do you wish to drop out as well?" Barely looking up as my name was called, my lips parted to speak, but my mind was blank. I had trusted those boys and here they were, only seeing me as whatever had happened in that forest. I couldn't remember what happened at all, but I figured it was bad after seeing the amount of blood on my clothes.

Seeing Naruto out the corner of my eye, he was looking at me with a strange expression in his blue orbs. Was it empathy?

"No." I said lowly. Glancing to Megumi, she seemed confused from Hiroki and Torino's behavior towards me. Another young man ended up leaving, and that was all. The rest were there to stay and fight.

Standing in my row alone, the empty space in front of me made my heart feel heavy. Over our time together, Megumi and the boys had become like a family to me, but now....now that connection was lost.

"Now then, we will begin the preliminaries. The preliminaries to come will be one-on-one individual battles. In other words, actual battle format. There are now exactly twenty one people, se we will conduct eleven battles. The winners will be able to advance to the third exam while the less injured of the losers will have a redemption battle with whoever is left. There are no rules at all. You will fight until someone dies, collapses....or admits defeat. And....please admit defeat right away if you don't want to die. However, in case I judge that a match is over....err, I don't want to needlessly increase dead bodies, so I will intervene and stop the match or something to that effect. What holds the key to your destinies is...." He then looked over his shoulder as the woman from the second exam turned with a mic to her mouth.

A panel on the wall slid open, revealing a screen.

"The names of two foes will be randomly selected and displayed on this electronic signboard. Now then, let's get right down to it and announce the two names for the first battle.

'Yoroi Akado vs. Sasuke Uchiha'

"Now then, the two displayed on the signboard, come forward." The two left the group and stood in front of the man. "For the 1st battle, Yoroi Akado and Sasuke Uchiha have been selected. No objections, right? Now then, we will begin the first battle." He added after both agreed to the fight. "Everyone other than the two foes, please move to the upper area." He waved a hand to the stairs as everyone dispersed.

"Come on, this way." My eyes looked up to see Megumi-sensei in front of me. Nodding, I followed her up the stairs before we stood a few yards from the Sand ninjas. "What happened?" She asked lowly while leaning on the wall.

"....I don't know." I mumbled.

"What do you mean you don't know?" She rose her voice, furrowing her brows at me.

"I mean, I don't know." I repeated. "We were attacked by Mist ninjas, they were too strong, and I blacked out." I muttered. Her eyes narrowed at me. "When I came to....I was covered in blood that wasn't mine and they're calling me a demon." Megumi grabbed my shoulder, forcing me to look at her as she held me there.

"What did you do?" Her voice was oddly low and dangerously calm. "Did you do what you did before?" I shook my head as I tensed.

"There was blood under my nails." I told her, not adding how I had found flesh in my teeth when I was cleaning up and changing clothes.

"Why didn't you tell me before this started?" She hissed, her hold on my shoulders tightening as she looked at me. "Admit defeat as soon as you step in the battle area, do you hear me?"

"What?"

"Drop the fight." Her voice was firm. "You're not battling anyone."

"But-"

"Sayuri, was it?" My head jerked to the side, seeing a blonde girl with a strange hairstyle. "I'm Temari." She stated before waving my teacher's hands off of me. "Why don't you watch with us?" And she was dragging me with her back to the other two Sand ninjas.

"Sayuri!" Megumi-sensei called, but she was stopped when the blonde looked back at her. I couldn't understand what was happening, but the people that had told me about my black-out were making me stand with them.

The second battle had already begun by now and the man with the three Sand Genins looked at me with confusion.

"Temari, what are you doing? Take that Leaf nin back."

"She's just going to watch with us." She stated. "It seems her teammates weren't the only ones." The blonde added under her breath.

"But-" The man's eyes went to the redhead before he was cut-off.

"It's fine." The boy with the emotionless expression looked at me from the corner of his eye. "Just keep quiet." He then told me. Nodding, I was so confused as to what was going on. Did they know something that I didn't?


	7. Preliminaries Pt.1

Shino, the boy with the chakra devouring insects, won the second battle after severely injuring the Sound ninja's arms. So far, no one was in the condition for the redemption round at the end of these battles and the preliminaries continued on.

Next was Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro, and the boy with the purple paint on his face moved towards the stairs. Glancing to him, he had a confident smirk on his lips while carrying that puppet on his back. I only knew what it was because he had used a puppet in the first exam to cheat with....

As soon as the battle had begun, the Sand ninja was being wrapped up by the other ninja as he moved his limbs like a snake wrapping around prey. The man demanded that the boy give up, but he refused, and a loud crack filled the air before his head was hanging limply from his shoulders.

I tightened my grip on the rails- the ninja had broken Kankuro's neck....

"How ridiculous...." The redhead next to me grumbled. Gulping, my eyes were glued to the scene below. Something wasn't right, but what?

As the man loosened his grip, chips fell from the Sand ninja's face before his head turned around 180 degrees with a large grin on his face. It was a puppet! _'Then where's Kankuro?'_ I thought, eyeing the large thing on the floor. The thing in the man's hold no longer looked like the Sand ninja as it took hold of him and Kankuro emerged from the thing wrapped up on the ground.

The boy won, and the man had to be taken away as he was unconscious on the stretcher.

The fourth battle was between the pinkette and the blonde that had been shouting at each other before the first exam. They seemed to be evenly matched as they fought, but neither of them won....

Next was Temari vs. Tenten, and the blonde girl sighed before going to the stairs. Neither of the two girls from the previous battle had to be taken away by medics, but both were out of chakra and it was still unknown who from the losers would be chosen to have their redemption.

Temari was mostly quiet as Tenten jumped back a few feet, her team shouting for her to do well. They were rather loud, but my focus remained on the battle.

"As always, she's being disagreeable." Kankuro said after the fight had started.

"How foolish...." The redhead said lowly while his arms remained crossed. Furrowing my brows, I leaned my head down a little. These fights were going so quickly and every loser was being toted off as they were knocked-out. I felt a bit on edge, not knowing what I'd do if I was next.

I knew that Kami-sama may try to interfere again, but I doubted I could win with my physical strength alone. I'd have to use some level of chakra and Kami-sama would come as soon as I did that... Would I be able to hold them back enough to win without losing control?

Temari won with her giant fan, blowing away any weapon Tenten threw at her until the very end. ....What were these Sand ninjas made of? Glancing to the two next to me, I wondered what the boy with the blank expression would do when he fought. Before Temari could return, she threw Tenten off of her fan and another boy tried to pick a fight with her.

"Temari." The redhead rose his voice, speaking firmly. "Come up quick, you've been declared the winner. Don't keep company with that awful-looking guy and his chaperone forever." And the blonde obeyed as the teacher below warned of the kid's strength as he stood next to him.

The sixth battle was won by a boy named Shikamaru with his wits and Shadow Jutsu. He was smart, showing his intelligence by his carefully laid out plan.

Naruto was up, going against the guy with the dog. Kiba was strong, not letting Naruto win easily as they fought. At some point, it had even looked as if Kiba was going to win, but Naruto somehow managed with his weird way of thinking and tactics. The boy was tenacious and he refused to give up no matter how many times he was beaten down.... That, and he farted, distracting Kiba due to his extremely sensitive nose.

Two Hyuga's went against each other, showing a rather intense battle, and the male ended up winning that fight.

After their fight, I felt a strange air of danger coming from right next to me. Tensing as I looked over, the youngest of the Sand ninjas had a mad look in his eyes as he was literally shaking. Unconsciously, my hand touched the metal plate over my throat as the boy looked ready to snap. His expression was oddly familiar to me....

From the names on the board, I learned that the redhead's name was Gaara and in less than a second he was on the battlefield in a flurry of sand. The boy from earlier that had caught Tenten was his opponent, and I feared the possible outcome of this battle. If Gaara's expression had said anything....Lee would be in trouble no matter how strong he was.

Every attack the boy dressed in green gave, a wall of sand interfered before attacking back and slithering around Gaara as if it had a life of its own. At first, Lee couldn't get through the sand until he took off weights to make himself even faster.

As Lee and Gaara's fight gained intensity, I felt a chill run up my spine as clawed fingers ran through my hair. My back went rigid as I heard a purr filling my ears as the hands brushed through my bangs.

_'I haven't slept that well in ages....'_ The voice said lowly and I was internally panicking. Kami-sama was there, but I hadn't built up any chakra! _'Did you like seeing all of that blood, Sayuri? Hm? What about that rush of power?'_

"K-Kami-sama?" I mumbled, my grip on the rails turning my knuckles white.

 _' ....You don't remember?'_ The purring stopped. _'You finally obeyed me when I ordered you to kill.'_ My veins felt like they were filled with ice. Slowly turning my head, I knew I couldn't actually see Kami-sama, but I felt compelled to look anyways. Seeing nothing but the wall as the hands shifted in my hair, I heard chuckling by my ear.

"Why-" And I was cut off as the air felt thick. Turning back to the battle, I saw Gaara rising to his feet as sand was crumbling from his face to reveal an insane grin.

_'Mm, that chakra....'_ Kami-sama began to purr again as the sand covered Gaara once more, making his expression unreadable once again. _'I must have more~!'_

"What are you talking about?" I whispered.

_'I haven't eaten in ages until he found us feeding in the forest.'_ I placed one hand on my forehead, clenching my jaw as I was piecing things together. The flesh and blood that was in my teeth and nails....Kami-sama had made me actually.... Oh, gods.... _'That chakra-so divine and smooth across my tongue.'_ The voice purred close to my ear as the hands on my head rested on the top of my skull. _'Look at that power~! Oh, he's no normal boy, for certain.... I'm hungry again.'_ And my stomach growled as Kami-sama whispered.

_'Let's feed.'_ Backing away from the rail until my back hit the wall, I held my head while fighting against the voice egging me on.

"Sayuri?" I heard Temari, but I was preoccupied by the hunger filling me, making me feel as if my stomach was completely empty and I hadn't eaten in weeks. Curling in on myself, I held my head as I was starting to drool.

_'Mm, at least your body remembers the taste. The satisfaction of finally feeding after so long.... Come on, there's so many tasty things here to eat, just devour them all!'_

"Shut up!" I hissed, holding my head as saliva dripped from my lips. I could hear my stomach growling and a delicious smell was filling the air.

"Sayuri!" It was Temari again, an edge in her voice.

"What's going on?" And it was the man that spoke this time.

_'You're hungry, I'm hungry, and we're surrounded by food. Just give in to it~!'_ Kami-sama purred while touching my cheek.

"Shut up!" I grit my teeth.

"Sayuri!" Megumi-sensei was in front of me now, concern in her voice as she grabbed my wrists. Looking at her, I knew my eyes were wide with a feral look in them. Drool was dripping from the corners of my mouth and down my chin and the look on her face was of pure horror as she saw me.

"Kami-sama is hungry...." I said, but my voice was close to a growl. Megumi-sensei reeled back, taking her hands off of me as her eyes widened with fear. "Sensei, help me...." I managed to say as Kami-sama was still purring and telling me to feed the hunger making my stomach clench. I could hear Gaara and Lee's battle continuing, but I couldn't see what was going on, nor did I care since the voice whispering in my ear was taking my main focus along with the hunger.

"G-Gaara!" Temari shouted, and I hugged myself while leaning on the wall. There were so many delicious smells in the air and I couldn't stop my mouth from watering as my stomach was still growling.

_'Look at her, she never cared for you.'_ Kami-sama whispered as Megumi-sensei was still looking at me with horror. _'Make her first, come on, can't you smell it? She has some good chakra....'_

"Sensei...." I pushed myself off of the wall, only seeing her terrified eyes as hunger drove me to stand. "I'm hungry." Taking a step towards her, she raised her hand as if to keep me back.

Suddenly, a palm was covering my mouth as cold fingers grabbed my cheeks. The hand pushed me back away from Megumi as the person stood between us.

"Hurry, I don't have the time for this." Gaara said in a monotone voice as chakra concentrated in his hand. Kami-sama's purring got louder in my ears as the boy's chakra slid over my tongue. The pain from the hunger I felt slowly began to fade as Kami-sama's hands left my hair "You.... Don't speak a word of this." His voice had an edge as he looked over his shoulder to Megumi-sensei.

Lightly panting and holding the redhead's wrist while pulling back, Kami-sama was silent and I assumed gone now. I hadn't a clue as to what was going on, but I knew something was wrong with how I craved to feed and was sated by the boy's chakra. No person would be that way....

"That fight must have made it hungry again." Gaara said while looking back to me.

" _'It'_?" I questioned, feeling tense. Did he know about Kami-sama?

"The monster in you." He stated, taking back his hand.

"Kami-sama isn't a monster!" I snapped. "It's just-" and I cut myself off. What if he was right? I mean, what god would thirst for death and flesh? Kami-sama used to just help me, but now....now the voice was demanding things I knew were immoral.

"Kami-sama? Is that what you call it?" Temari snorted.

"What else was I to call it? Their voice guides me, helps me, how was I supposed to know any different?"

"You can hear it?" Her brow raised as she looked at me. "It guides you?" Feeling put on the spot now, I didn't answer and instead hugged myself while leaning on the wall. With the start of the next battle, it was determined that I was last to fight and would be against one of the losers from the other battles.


	8. Preliminaries Pt.2

"Seeing as only you two are able to move, do either of you have enough chakra to fight?" The man running the battles questioned the pinkette and the blonde that had tied. Standing among the rubble from the previous fights, I built up only a little chakra to see if I could even do this without Kami-sama going rampant.

Silence. Total and utter silence as nothing touched my head. Lightly sighing through my nose, I felt relief....

"It appears that neither Sakura nor Ino are able to fight. As such, Sayuri will fight one of us." I paused, looking to the man as the words left his mouth. "Any volunteers? Due to the circumstances, however, the rules will be slightly changed to make it fair." He pointedly looked to Megumi since she had taught me, assuming she would take the offer to see how I'd fair, but she only turned away and walked off.

"I'll do it." A man sighed, and I looked to see a silver-haired Jonin behind Naruto raising his hand. Most of his face was covered by a mask while one of his eyes was covered by his headband. "But I'll do it the fun way." From the expression in his visible eye, it seemed he was smiling as he stood there with his hands in his pockets.

The man glanced to the Hokage, and he nodded.

"That's fine." He stated, and the Jonin was in front of me now.

"All you have to do is try to get the bell." He stated, pulling said object from his pocket. It seemed like a ridiculous task, but he was a Jonin, so there was no telling how hard that would be.

"Kakashi-sensei! Don't set her up to fail!" Naruto shouted from where he was, but I agreed to the man and my task was set.

Simply reaching for it, he moved the bell out of my reach. _'I see....'_ I thought while quickly jumping up. I missed again and took a few steps back. Narrowing my eyes, I'd need to build up chakra to gain speed. Kami-sama had been silent, so it felt safe to do so.

Standing with my feet shoulder-width apart, I put my hands together and built up chakra, concentrating it in my legs. However, it felt strange this time.... It felt more powerful, and foreign, like it wasn't my own. It felt....like Gaara's....

Shaking my head, I tried to focus on what I had to do. If feeding on the boy's chakra had given me some of his power, it wouldn't be too far fetched to assume that it was Kami-sama's way of turning food into energy like any other living thing.

Kicking off of the ground, the wind from my speed made my bangs fly back as my baggy clothes fluttered. The man with the bell wasn't moving, but his eye was following my movement. I had to be faster.

Putting more into my legs, I kicked off my shoes and tossed my kunai pouch. The items flew through the air before hitting the ground and when the man's attention was on them, I leapt for the bell. His hand seemed to move in slow motion as I shot like a bullet right under it. The top of my head tapped it, but I had missed grabbing it due to his own speed beating mine. Huffing, I tried again.

It was odd for it to be so quiet with Kami-sama's absence in such a situation, but I felt relieved since I wasn't being shouted at to kill or feed. Circling the Jonin, I felt more powerful chakra entering my legs as my feet were barely touching the ground now. Bringing my hands to in front of me, I made a few signs.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" And more of me began to circle the silver haired man. His eyes began to dart between them as each clone would launch at the bell and forcing him to step around and move to prevent them from crashing into him.

Three of them leapt at once as I shot forward from the right, and he was focused on the ones kicking at his head and chest as another was barreling towards his legs. There was a split-second opening when he was dodging and I dove for it.

My fingers brushed over the bell, but I didn't quite have a grip on it as it slipped from the Jonin's grasp. He tried to catch it, but my clones were like a frenzied group of sharks that he had to keep dodging from all directions. Kicking off of the ground, I jumped, catching the bell mid-air.

Landing, my clones went away as I was panting and I opened my palm to see my victory. Completely freezing, my eyes were glued to my palm. It wasn't the bell I was holding....it was a rock.

"I'd say you passed!" Looking up, I saw the silver haired man in front of me, holding the bell in his hand as it jingled.

"But I didn't-"

"You would've." He seemed to be smiling as he was tossing a small rock into the air and catching it with his other hand.


	9. New Beginning

"To everyone who has advanced to the Final Round of the third test of the Chunin Exams, there's one person who's missing, but, congratulations." I was happy to have passed, but....I had lost nearly everything while participating in these exams. All I had before were my friends and Megumi-sensei, but now....

"Well, I will begin the explanation of the Final Round." The Hokage spoke up. "The Final Round is where each one of you will show off your battle skills in front of everyone. I want you to satisfactorily demonstrate and show off your ability as representative battle forces of your respective lands. Accordingly, the Final Round will commence one month from now."

"W-we're not going to do it here, right now?" Naruto asked.

"This is so that there's a suitable period of preperation."

"What do you mean?"

"That is to say....along with the announcement of the conclusion of the preliminary match to each country's Daimyo and Shinobi leaders, readying the summons for the Final Round requires preparation time- not to mention the time it takes for you examinees to prepare."

"I don't quite get what you're trying to say. What do you mean?"

"In other words, in order to know your adversary, in order to prepare yourself, time is necessary." The Hokage replied while holding his pipe. "Time to analyze what you learned about the adversaries in the preliminaries....time to take stock of your successes. The battles until now were like actual battles- it presupposed situations in which you can't know your adversary. However, this is not the case in the Final Round. Some of you might have already revealed everything in front of your rivals.... In the spirit of fairness and equality, you will have a month to train yourself to further your skills."

Looking down at my hands, I clenched my jaw. Within a month, I'd have to regain control over Kami-sama and learn how to use this new power. Kami-sama could feed off of other people's chakra and turn it into energy that I could use. I had proof that I didn't need to kill to sate Kami-sama, Gaara had just given some of his chakra and they went quiet. If I could somehow use that to my advantage....

"Now that that's done....I'd like to let you take your leave.... But first, for the Final Round, there is one more important matter to take care of."

"Let's get on with it, so we can get to training!" Naruto shouted.

"Now, now. I want you all to calmly take one slip of paper from the box that Anko is holding." The Hokage smiled.

"I'm going to go around in order....take only one." The woman brought the box around, and I pulled out a piece of folded paper when she stood in front of me.

"Good, everyone has taken a number." The scarred shinobi from the first exam rose his voice. "Then, from left to right, tell me the number on your slip of paper. The last Sound ninja was first.

"I'm nine."

"I'm one." Naruto said flatly.

"Seven." Temari stated.

"Five." Kankuro followed up.

"Three." Gaara uttered.

"Eight." Shikamaru declared.

"Two." Hyuga announced.

"Six." Shino affirmed.

"Ten." I mumbled.

"Very well, I will tell you about how the Final Round tournament will work." The Hokage glanced at us. "Ibiki, bring forth the pairings." The scarred ninja turned around the clipboard he held and showed a tournament chart.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Does this mean that there will only be one winner of the tournament? That only one of us will be able to become a Chunin?"

"No, on the contrary. The judges of the Final Round, of which I am one, will be made up of the Kazekage, the Daimyo from various countries who will assign you your missions, and the Shinobi leaders. Through this tournament, These judges will be able to make a thorough evaluation, and come to a decision as to whether each one of you possesses the qualities incumbent of a Chunin. Even if someone loses the first roung, they can still become a Chunin."

"So there's a chance that all of us will become Chunin?"

"Correct, but conversely, there's also a chance that none of you will. To ' _advance_ ' in the tournament, means maximizing chances to appeal yourselves to the judges." The Hokage explained. "Understood, Shikamaru? Thank you for your patience. We will adjourn until next month."

Looking to the Sound ninja, he was my first opponent....

~

"Sayuri, was it?" I looked up, seeing the silver haired shinobi that had made me go after the bell.

"....Yes." I stopped walking as the man stood there in front of me.

"I dislike being the one to break the news to you....but your team and Jonin have decided to transfer you."

"Transfer...." My shoulders slumped.

"I will not lie, they expressed with urgency that they no longer wanted you on their team. The other Jonins are unwilling to take you on, seeing as no one will tell them why they're leaving you, so you are-"

"Join us!" The blue eyed blond slid into view, wearing a big grin while pointing at himself with his thumb. The Jonin grabbed the boy by he head and pulled him back to stand by his side.

"I was going to say, you are free to join our team. However, you will have joint training with this idiot. I would properly assign someone to assist in your training, but seeing as I don't know the full extent of your abilities, I'm putting you with Naruto. He's....the most inexperienced of our group, so he will have the most rigorous teacher. Will you be okay with that?" I looked between the man and the grinning boy.

"....Didn't you hear what they called me? Do you really want that?" I rubbed my arm, feeling nervous and uncertain.

"Oh, it's fine!" Naruto waved his hand. "I get treated like that all the time, so don't worry!" He was smiling, and his words were meant to encourage, but it only made me look at him differently. Why would people possibly treat him that way? "So, will you?" The boy gave me an excited look, and on an impulse I agreed.


	10. Hot Springs

"Miso-flavor barbecued pork noodles and salt-flavor ramen noodles!" A woman called out in the small ramen shop.

"So, you're Sayuri?" The man with tinted glasses questioned as he sat between Naruto and I. Breaking my chopsticks apart, I glanced up as a bowl was sat in front of me.

"Yes."

"I've heard a few things from your teachers at the academy, as well as Megumi and Kakashi." The man picked up some chopsticks and broke them apart while Naruto was already stuffing his face. "They each seem to have a different opinion on you." I turned my attention back to my ramen. "The academy teachers seem to think you're a rather average student with no mentionable weaknesses or outstanding strengths. Megumi and Kakashi, on the other hand, say nearly the opposite. Do you know why?"

"Yes." I stated.

"Want to tell me?"

"I didn't want to stick out in school. I didn't show my full potential, nor pull my punches to the point that I was failing. I set an average standard, and I stuck to it unless I doubted I would pass a test with the abilities they believed I had." Adding some pepper to my noodles, I mixed it into the food and broth. "Megumi-sensei would probably speak negatively about me because she has witnessed some rather.... _dark_ sides of me. Kakashi, however, may see potential in me from the preliminaries to the third exam." It was quiet, and I glanced over to the other two. "What?"

"That's a rather....well thought response." Ebisu cleared his throat. "And, Naruto, having been shown your movements and having further analyzed what Kakashi has told me....it is clear that you cannot control chakra well."

"Control....?" The boy's voice was muffled by his mouth full of food.

"That's right. Now then, comparing you with Sasuke and Sakura....I shall explain your bad points in order. As you know, in the case of using Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and the like, Ninjas build up chakra and activate jutsu."

"I-I know that already!"

"Is that so?" Ebisu set down his cup as I listened and ate. "Then, in the case of comparing the three of you, I shall explain specifically how you are inferior."

"That's kind of an irritating way of saying it." Naruto mumbled.

"I'm treating you to ramen as promised, so be quiet and listen! First, let's say that Sakura uses Clone Jutsu. In her case, her build-up control as well as her control of chakra is perfect, so she can make clones without using wasteful energy. Next, in Sasuke's case, he is somewhat poor at building up chakra. But, his control of chakra is perfect, so both he and Sakura can make five clones. But, he used a bit more wasteful chakra than Sakura." Ebisu explained.

"Oh! So Sasuke's nothing special."

"In your case, there's no time to be laughing at others."

"Huh?"

"You are very poor at building up chakra and controlling it, so you cannot make clones with the same amount of chakra. In the case where you strain to make clones despite that, after consuming a much larger amount of chakra than Sakura and Sasuke....you can barely make one clone at best." The man said rather calmly, and I raised a brow at Naruto. He didn't seem that bad during the exams as far as I saw.... "By the way, Sakura and Sasuke can become ten with the same amount of chakra. Like this, the three of you are this different even using the same jutsu. Well, this is a somewhat exaggerated comparison of you three, but you build up too much chakra, use too much physical strength, and your justu activation is also unstable."

"But there've been times when I was greater than Sakura and Sasuke-"

"That's only because you happen to have the most outstanding stamina of the three!" Ebisu rose his voice. Naruto looked a bit shocked, then lowered his gaze as his head hung. He seemed to be deep in thought, and now I was curious as to where I may stand among this group. "Anyway," The man stood. "there is no mistaking that you can become strong if you carry out the training we will be doing from now."

"Huh?! Really?!" Naruto lit up.

"I guarantee it. Now then, let's go."

"Sir, your bill."

"Oh, that's right." Ebisu was smiling until he saw the stacks of bowls next to the blond.

~

"We've come quite a long way...." Naruto droned while walking with his hands behind his head. "But, this is a hot spring town, right? It doesn't look like we've come here to leisurely soak in a hot spring...."

"Hey! Naruto! That's the women's bath! I simply will not allow indecent behavior!" Ebisu shouted, and Naruto just turned and looked at him like he was an idiot. "What's with that look?"

"Nothing." Naruto replied. "More importantly, why've we come to a place like this?! Will soaking in a hot spring do anything for training?"

"No! The training will be here in this hot spring area!"

"I don't understand." I mumbled while raising my hand.

"You will." The man smiled and crossed one of the bridges with us following. "Okay, this is the place."

"It's a bath!"

"What are you saying? I said this is training, didn't I? Training!"

"We're going to train here?" Naruto slumped. "What the heck are we going to do?"

"Walk on this hot water!"

"What?!"

"What is it?" Ebisu furrowed his brows after receiving a look of skepticism from the blond.

"Walk on hot water? Can you really do that?"

"Of course!" The man shouted at the boy. "I heard from Kakashi-sensei. You already did tree-climbing training without using your hands, right? It's an application of that."

"Hmm.... What do you mean? Besides, I don't really remember stuff from long ago!"

"In tree climbing, all you do is accumulate only the necessary amount of chakra in one necessary location and maintain that amount of chakra all the while. Trees are fixed objects, so you only need to be attached to it. In other words, it's training for building up a fixed amount of chakra. To float on the surface of water, you have to discharge on a constant basis an appropriate amount of chakra from your feet to the water and balance that to the extent that you can float your own body."

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head with confusion while crossing his arms.

"This chakra control is more difficult than maintaining....and is a control training for discharge and usage of fixed amount of chakra for jutsu and alike."

"Hmm, I really don't get it!"

"Well, it would be better to show you in your case." Ebisu raised his hands, and I watched him carefully. "First, build up chakra in your feet. Then, while constantly discharging a fixed amount....you balance it with your body weight." The man then walked out onto the water next to where we stood. "This is how it goes!" He said proudly while putting his hands onto his hips.

"Oh! Okay! I'm going to try!" Naruto got excitedly and jumped to building up chakra. When he went to step into the water, however....he just fell in before flying back out and shouting about how hot it was.

"I knew it. I forgot to mention it, but this hot water is 60C. If you do nothing but fail....you will become a boiled octopus!" Ebisu smirked as Naruto climbed out of the water. "Why don't you try, Sayuri?"

"....Okay." I put my hands together and began to build up chakra. Kami-sama was there, holding my head like usual and sighed. _'How boring....'_ Kami-sama grumbled. _'You're going to need to raise your chakra output.'_ They said as I was stepping onto the water. _'Not that high, lower it.'_ And I obeyed while shifting my weight on my feet. Furrowing my brows in concentration, I took another step. I wasn't on top of the water like Ebisu, but I wasn't sinking like Naruto either. The hot water was nearly lapping at my toes and I clenched my jaw to keep from sinking further.

"Th-that's excellent, Sayuri!" The man looked surprised. "Incredible!"

"That dog was right!" Naruto groaned while ruffling his own hair before building up chakra again. He tried again and again, but kept just falling into the water. The fourth time that he fell, however, caused the water to ripple too much to the point that I lost balance and fell.

Gasping as I came up for air, I hurried to get out while my clothes were soaked. Looking down at my dripping sleeves, I heard Kami-sama chuckling.

"Oh.... Ahahahaha!" Naruto burst into laughter while pointing at me. "I guess Sayuri isn't that good after all!"

"....Again." I mumbled, going back out onto the water. After a few more falls from the unsteady water, Naruto finally managed to not sink completely into the water and I could stand there without falling from all of the blond's movement.

"Ah!" Naruto screamed while pointing and nearly sank into the water if I hadn't grabbed his arm as he was flailing. He clung to my soaked arm and steadied himself. "Thank's, Sayuri!" He laughed.

"No problem." And the next thing either of us knew, Ebisu was out cold as an old man sat on top of a giant toad. Looking between the adults, I was at a loss at what to do.


	11. Marks

"Oi....Closet pervert." Naruto stood over Ebisu, but he got no response and crouched behind the fallen man. "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu....One Thousand Years of Death!" And the blond....shoved his fingers into Ebisu's butt. "He's totally knocked out.... He's weak, sure enough."

"Naruto....what did you just do?"

"Ah, it's a jutsu I learned from Kakashi-sensei!" He grinned, but I just deadpanned. ....What was with this team? "What's with that big frog?" Naruto shouted to the old man. "What the heck are you?"

"Thank you for asking me!" The old man flipped his long hair. "Know me as the Mountain Toad....spirit sage who acquires immortality, also commonly called the Toad Mountain Sage." The giant toad and the old man struck a pose.

"M-Mountain Sage?"

"Exactly." The toad disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the old man stood on his own two feet.

"Hey....Pervy Sage, what're you going to do about this?" Naruto pointed to Ebisu. "He was supposed to watch our training! You did that to him."

"He interfered with my research."

"Research?"

"I'm a writer. I'm writing a novel." The old man reached into his shirt and pulled out a book. "This is it!" The front cover said _Make-Out Paradise_ and had a picture of a man chasing a woman as they laughed.

"Oh, that is....!" Naruto pointed, recognizing the book.

"You know this?" The old man snickered.

"That's not much of a novel!"

"....What kind of book is that?" I mumbled.

"Don't worry about it, Sayuri. In the first place, what research are you talking about?!" Naruto shouted. "You're just peeking at the girls' bath!" I heard screaming from the bathhouse, and the old man whined.

"Idiot, idiot....idiot! My peeking has been found out."

"You pervert."

"F-fool! I'm not just a pervert." The old man ran up to Naruto and I cringed. "I get inspired by peeking and can write better pieces."

"Liar! No excuses."

"Disgusting." I popped off.

"More importantly, what're you going to do about our training?!"

"You mean the walking-on-water technique you were doing earlier?"

"You know it? Then take responsibility and join our training." The blond pointed at the old man.

"Hmph. I don't care about such things." The old man then walked right past us.

"Hey, hey wait! Pervy Sage! Join our training, hey!"

"Shut up! I hate people who don't know how to talk properly. ....And I don't like men."

"Oh, um, ummm.... That _Make-Out Paradise_ was really exciting, cool, and interesting." Naruto was clearly lying.

"The purchase or viewing of that novel is prohibited for those 18 years or younger.... You liar."

"The reviews that I've heard are great."

"It's useless to flatter me. I'm a sage!" The old man shot back. "I'm not the type of fool who can be coaxed by a fledgling like you."

"Oh, hey....wait!" Naruto ran after the old man as he was leaving. "Help me, Sayuri!"

"Farewell, kids!" And he was gone by jumping over the rooves of the bath houses.

"Wow! He's cool even though he's a pervert." Naruto grinned. "Come on, Sayuri, let's go get him!"

"....What about Ebisu-"

"It's fine! He's not that strong anyways!" The blond then ran off towards the village. I glanced back at the man still knocked out, but I eventually chased after the boy so that I wasn't left there. "Heeey, Pervy Sage!" Naruto shouted through the streets. Stopping at an intersection, we looked around. "Where'd he go?"

Hearing a scream and a loud slap, I had an idea of where the old man might have gone.

"What're you doing, you old pervert?" A woman yelled before stomping out of a building.

"No, no, I'm sorry, miss....but what lovely breasts-" The old man followed her out.

"Pervert!" She slapped him again, and Naruto flinched from the sound. The old man held the new red mark on his cheek, having matching handprints on either side.

"This grown-up is disgraceful." Naruto grumbled. "Maybe there's nothing special about him after all. But there's nobody else."

"This day keeps getting weirder and weirder...." I said lowly as the blond stepped towards the old man. The old guy seemed to be saying something, and the boy was much louder.

"' _As usual_ '? Meaning you've come here before?"

"You."

"And you did nothing but peeping, right? You Pervy Sage!"

"Shhh!" The old man was trying to quiet Naruto's shouting. "Don't say pervert in such a loud voice."

"Shut up! So I bet that one shot on the closet pervert was fluke! Anyway, I'll have you take responsibility for ruining our training! Whoa!" The old man just picked Naruto up in one hand.

"Jeez, you're a noisy brat. Be quiet inside of here for a while." He threw the blond into a giant jar, put the lid on, then set a giant stone on top of that. The old man began to walk off while triumphantly laughing, and I felt like he had completely forgotten I was there as I rolled the stone off of the jar.

"....Is it normal for you to chase down perverts for training?" I questioned while looking down at the blond boy. He just made a face while looking up at me and then crawled out of the jar.

"With the Closet Pervert knocked out, I'm missing time on my training. I need as much as I can get before this month is over- I need to get stronger." He dusted himself off while looking around. "Which way did he go?"

"Over that bridge." I pointed.

"Come on!" And he was running off again.

~

"It seems you have a bit of talent." The old man was telling Naruto after we chased him down in the forest.

"Then you'll watch our training?"

"Give and take! I'm not averse to listening to your favor as long as you listen to mine." The old man replied.

"So which is it?"

"Listen.... Nice, ripe fruit looks like this, like this, and this." The man waved his hands around. "I'll watch your training if you bring me that."

"You really will, right?"

"This Toad Mountain Sage doesn't lie."

"Okay, wait!" Naruto ran off, and I felt a bit excited myself as I went off to look as well. When I found some fruit that matched the old man's description, I ran back to the village. By the time I found the old man, Naruto was handing him a giant watermelon.

"That thing is huge." I said in awe while dumping the pears in my arms onto the table.

"It's great, right?!" Naruto shouted with pride.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot! That's not IT!" The old man chopped up the watermelon despite shouting his disapproval.

"Looks so good!" The blond seemed to always be rather loud.

"Don't hesitate. Help yourself." The old man picked up some fruit and I pulled up a chair next to the blond boy. "No! Where'd the ladies go?!" And it didn't take long for all of the fruit to be gone.

"I got my fill...." Naruto pat his stomach.

"Ladies...." The old man was still pouting. "Good grief. I've wasted time...." He began to walk away.

"Hold it! Where are you going?! What about our training?!" Naruto got up and stood in the man's way.

"I don't care! My precious research has been ruined thanks to you."

"Research, my butt! I can't be standing around here, either! I'm going to train hard, become stronger than anybody, pass the Chunin Exam, and then I'll exceed the Hokage!" Naruto pointed and I tilted my head. _'Exceed the Hokage?_ '

"Hmph! I don't care about such things. Here all you do is get in my way.... Jeez, what a repugnant brat!" The old man griped. "Stacked girls like the ones from earlier are indispensable for my great writing enterprises!"

"I see.... So I should bring some stacked girls, right? Okay." The blond grinned, and I rose a brow. Was he really going to give the Pervy Sage what he wanted? He popped his knuckles before building chakra and performing a jutsu. With a puff of smoke, Naruto became a women that was completely naked and only smoke for censorship.

My jaw literally fell in surprise and my brows furrowed in confusion. The boy could perform this kind of jutsu but....still couldn't grasp the basics. _'How?!'_

"If you gaze at me like that....I feel embarrassed." Even his voice was that of a woman.

"I like you! You pass!" The old man shouted at Naruto. "You're really my type of girl. What's that technique called?"

"It's called Sexy Jutsu."

"Oooh, what an idea. You're a genius."

"Then you'll watch our training?"

"Sure! However, I have a condition."

"A condition....? What is it?"

"A-always be....in that form when you're in front of me!"

"Hey! Sure enough, you're just a pervert! You Pervy Sage!" Naruto turned back to normal while shouting.

"No! I'm not just a pervert!"

"As if you didn't know!"

"I'm a super pervert!" The old man cackled and I cringed again.

~

"Well, brushing off the stuff until now as a joke, I'll watch your training." The old man said as we sat by a river.

"You mean it, right?"

"A sage doesn't go back on his word. Okay, kids. Do that training that you were doing before one more time."

"Okay!" Naruto smiled while standing up, and I followed him to the edge of the water and built up chakra. Stepping out onto the water, I held my hands out to keep steady as Naruto was walking like he was on ice. He was doing better than at the hot springs already, until he fell into the water and Kami-sama was laughing at him along with the old man.

"Totally worthless." The man said while Naruto crawled out of the river. "Your little friend is leagues ahead of you."

"Shut up!" The blond began to throw off his soaked clothes. "It's pointless to wear clothes!"

"Hey, build up your chakra one more time."

"One more time?"

"Just do it, quick." The old man said sternly, and when Naruto did as he was told, Kami-sama dug their nails into my scalp. _'Sayuri....look.'_ I glanced over at Naruto. _'That boy....has power.'_ But it wasn't what Kami-sama was saying that made me lose focus, it was the strange symbols on the blond's stomach. I saw it and lost control of my chakra and fell into the water.

Sputtering as I climbed onto the rocks, I looked up again to see the old man hitting Naruto.

"What're you doing?!" Naruto whined, and my eyes went wide as the symbols on his stomach were gone.

"Well, I just pushed the pressure points for relaxing. Just try walking on the water once more...."

"Sheesh!" The boy walked out on the water as I got to my feet, and he suddenly had no problem walking on the river. "I don't know why, but it's going well!" He was hopping around. "Yahoo!"

"What did you do?" I said lowly, gaining the old man's attention.

"Like I said, I just-"

"No you didn't." I looked him right in the eye. "I saw them." He laughed and it sounded a bit nervous, and I grabbed my arm. "Do you know something about them?" The old man stopped laughing, and gave me a more serious look as Naruto was still cheering and hopping around on the water.

"....Do you?"

"....Don't tell anyone." I spoke hardly above a whisper and turned my back onto the old man. "But could you tell me what this is?" Lifting up my shirt and showing my lower back, I looked over my shoulder and saw his eyes widen a fraction. "They've been there as long as I can remember, and I think they may have something to do with Ka-....a voice I hear."

"A voice?" He furrowed his brows while crouching behind me to look closer at the black lines and symbols on my skin.

"Whenever I build up chakra....or whenever someone very powerful is fighting, I feel hands in my hair and I hear a voice like the wind talking to me. They usually help me with jutsus and fighting."

"Usually?"

"....You promise you won't tell anyone?"

"I promise." His voice and face were completely serious, and I had little to no choice but to trust his word. If he knew something about what was happening, I needed to know.

"During the Second Exam....it made me kill....and I don't think it was all in self defense." The old man was quiet for a second, then sighed through his nose as he stood up.

"Don't tell Naruto about any of this." Lowering my shirt, I turned back around. "Okay, kid. Come on out." The old man was back to smiling as he called out to the blond. "I'll teach you an ace technique."

"What-what ace technique? A deadly technique?" Naruto came running out of the water.

"There's something you both must understand well before I teach you techniques." He then gave Naruto a look. "You probably haven't noticed, but you possess two types of chakra."

"Huh? Two types?"

"Until now, have you ever felt a special chakra?"

"Special? Hmmm...." Naruto crossed his arms while thinking. "Come to think of it....I get the feeling there were times when chakra suddenly sprang up and an awesome power came out. But....I don't really remember those moments."

"I see."

"But I do remember sensing that it was different from the chakra I always build up. If I liken it to colors, while it's always blue....it felt like it was red or something."

"I see." The old man smiled, and I looked at Naruto. ....Was he like me? "What about you?"

"....If I were to put it like Naruto," I began, and the boy looked at me with curious eyes. "it's normally red, but it sometimes becomes silver."

"Okay. That's it for today's training." The old man nodded, and it gave me an odd sense of comfort that I could talk to someone who knew what I was going through. He seemed to know quite a bit as he was helping Naruto and I.

"What?! Already?" Naruto chased after the old man when he was walking away. "What happened to the ace technique? I can still train."

"Uh....I can, too!" I pointed to myself.

"With training, a watched pot never boils. As long as we're here, let's have a bath. Not just falling in...."

~

Sinking into the hot water, we found natural springs outside so that we didn't have to pay at a bathhouse. There was no worry of someone coming along since it was night by now and we were in the forest.

"Sayuri, you okay over there?" Naruto shouted, and I raised my mouth over the water.

"Hai!" I yelled back while leaning on a rock. Looking up to the sky, I sighed. So Kami-sama really wasn't who, or rather what, I had believed. Those marks on my back had to mean something, and their bloodlust was definitely not fit for something good. There was a darkness within me, but hopefully I could find out more about it with these two....


	12. Little Scroll

"Hey...."

"This is paradise."

"Hey, I said." Naruto was frowning while crossing his arms. I covered my face with my hand when the blond did his Sexy Jutsu. "Isn't it time for you to turn this way already? If you join my training, I'll give you lots of _service_. P-l-e-a-s-e." I cringed from what was happening in front of me.

"So you finally came out.... I was waiting for you. What?" The old man looked disappointed when he turned around and saw Naruto and I. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Right back at you."

"Okay....I'll teach you a technique."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Do you remember what I told you yesterday about the two types of chakra?"

"Huh? Yesterday's talk?"

"You know, what you said about blue and red chakra or something." The old man crouched in front of us.

"Oh.... What about it?"

"You said that when a great power comes out, you felt red chakra, and you felt silver."

"Yeah, it was like that." Naruto said, and I nodded in agreement.

"Try building up that other chakra right now."

"Hmm. Even if you say so.... I'll give it a try, but...." Naruto put his hands together, but his frown stayed. "Hmm, it's not right. It's the same chakra as always."

"Jeez, you have no talent."

"Don't be talking all high and mighty!" Naruto yelled. "In the first place, I really don't understand those two types of chakra myself!"

"Just keep trying." The old man glanced to me. "You, too."

"No good, no good. Only the usual chakra's coming out." Naruto sighed, and I closed my eyes to help me focus. "Say, Pervy Sage. What the heck does the other chakra and the technique you're going to teach us have to do with each other?"

"Listen, kids. For the technique I'm about to teach you, the chakra you've had until now is not nearly enough."

"What?" My shoulders slumped.

"Therefore, you'll have to be able to pull out and use the _other_ chakra that has been dormant within you at any time you need."

"But how do you know that we have such a chakra?" Naruto gave the old man a look.

"Oh, just what I wanted to hear. Actually....it's because I'm a sage."

"Jeez....that's no answer."

"Anyway, the special chakra that only you two have will become your greatest weapon." The old man smiled, and I glanced at my hands.

"Greatest weapon?" Naruto tilted his head.

"Not using that is like wasting treasure." The old man pinched and pulled on Naruto's face. "There's no need to forcefully do the same training as everyone else. Everyone has what they're good at and poor at. You have your own style. Your training until now, maintaining and releasing a set amount of chakra, was in other words, training to control the suppression of chakra so that you wouldn't get exhausted. But you have a lot of stamina and should be about power rather than a cheap trick." The old man finally let the boy's face go.

"You both, who have two types of chakra and don't exhaust easily, should release the largest amount of chakra you can and train to increase the absolute amount of chakra that you can use. Then there are tons of jutsu and techniques you can use." The man smirked.

"What, for example?"

"For example....summoning jutsu that I'm going to teach you now." I perked at the old man's words.

"Summoning?"

"Right. It's a type of spatio-temporal technique where you sign a contract in blood with all kinds of living creatures and summon whenever you like with Ninjutsu." The old man explained.

"Oh! That sounds awesome. Teach me quick!" Naruto was getting excited.

"Before that....first, it's necessary to use up all of your usual chakra."

"Okay! Leave it to me!" Naruto jumped back and made shadow clones. "I have a good idea how to get rid of my chakra quickly." And more clones appeared. "Listen up. We're going to have a battle royal now. The last one left will be the strongest me.... We're going to determine the me among me! Okay, let's go!" All of the Narutos ran at each other. _'....That seems kind of like a good idea.'_ I thought, and hopped into the mix.

"Surprise challenger appears!" One of the Narutos shouted, and I felt a small grin pull at my lips as I made my own shadow clones.

We were at it for hours, but when only Naruto and I stood there alone, panting and dirty, it seemed to finally be over.

"The finale is near at last." The old man smiled while waving the fan in front of his face. "Well done."

"Sure enough, I'm the strongest me." Naruto chuckled while holding up a peace sign.

"I can consider you a worthy adversary." I panted.

"A what?"

"A-" The boy hit the ground before I could explain.

"It looks like you've finally used up almost all of your chakra." The old man walked over while smiling still. "Now, at last, I'll teach you the technique."

"Oh, I've been waiting!"

"First, I'll show you. Watch carefully." The man bit his thumb, then smeared the blood onto his palm before performing the summoning jutsu.

"Oooh, so cool!"

"Amazing...." I mumbled, looking at the giant toad that appeared with a puff of smoke. The toad was holding a scroll in its mouth before handing it to Naruto.

"Open that scroll. It's a contract with the summoning toads that I've taken over from generations. Sign your name in your own blood and stamp the fingerprints of one hand in blood under that. Then build up chakra in the place you want to summon and set down the hand you contracted. The sign is Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Sheep." The old man explained as Naruto laid out the scroll.

Furrowing my brows as I looked at it, it seemed oddly familiar....

"I have one of these." I said out loud.

"Huh?" Naruto looked up at me.

"I have a scroll just like this." Looking up, I glanced to the old man. "I didn't know what it was though."

"Show it to me." The man looked more serious as he sat on top of the giant toad. Reaching into the pouch on my leg, I dug through my kunais and pulled out the small scroll. It wasn't nearly as big as the one Naruto sat in front of, and could fit in the palm of my hand. It looked old and worn, and I handed it to the old man to let him look at it. "Where'd you get this?"

"It was in the basket with me when my parents found me."

"Found you?"

"Someone left me on their porch. All that was with me was a note, that scroll, and the blanket I was wrapped in." I told him as he opened the scroll.

"....You're adopted?" Naruto was looking at me and I shifted on my feet.

"In a way."

"What do you mean?" The boy's brows furrowed.

"They left me when I was four. No one knows where they went, either, so I just woke up alone at home one morning thinking they had simply gone out, but they never came home."

"I guess we have something else in common." Naruto gave a sad smile. "I don't have any parents either."

"This is pretty rare what you've got here." The old man spoke up, and I turned my attention back to him. He was looking at the scroll while holding his chin in the other hand.

"What do you mean?"

"It's really old, for one thing, and....there's only two names in here." He showed the inside of the scroll, and sure enough there were only two sets of names and fingerprints. The first name read ' _Monsuta Ashi_ ', and the second was ' _Hana Toge_ '. "I'll tell you right now, I have no clue what this summons. Do you want to contract with this, or the toads?" The old man was actually giving me a choice.

I'd rather contract with the toads because then I'd at least know what was coming, but with this scroll there was no telling. Was it snails? Praying mantises? Some other strange insect? What if it was something dangerous like a rhino? But....I had to know and it was the only thing that connected me to where I may come from.

"This one." I said as the old man handed back the small scroll. Setting it down, Naruto was already pressing his fingertips to the toad scroll. Biting my thumb, I wrote my name. The fresh blood contrasted with the old, and I smeared the blood onto my other fingers to get the prints.

"Okay.... This is fine, right?" Naruto questioned as he stood up.

"It's easier for you to release red chakra right now. So give it a try."

"I already am." Naruto put his hands together as I pressed my fingers to the scroll. "Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!" The boy yelled, and after a small puff of smoke, a small tadpole was flopping around on the rocks. There was a moment of quiet as we simply looked at the tadpole.

"I guess....it's my turn." I mumbled while Naruto stopped sulking and turned to watch. Smearing blood onto my palm, I copied the old man while feeling Kami-sama hold my head. "Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!" And....it was some type of baby mammal and it's eyes weren't even open as it was crying and stumbling about.

"Is that a dog?" Naruto furrowed his brows.

"That's not a dog scroll." The old man stated while leaning over to get a better look. "Maybe some weird bear?" He sighed while scratching the back of his head. "It's too young to really tell 'what' it is.... You're going to have to try better."

"At least it doesn't have a bunch of legs and multiple eyes." I popped off.


	13. Deal

"Oi, Pervy Sage! Weren't you going to watch our training?!" Naruto huffed while the old man was peeking through the bushes at some women playing by the waterfall.

"I'm researching now. Do it yourself!"

"All right, then I'll summon a frog, a frog so big you'll be shocked! Summoning Jutsu!"

"Hmm? What's wrong? Did a frog appear?"

"W-wait a minute!" Naruto waved his hands as a tadpole was squirming on the rocks.

"What part of that's a frog?!" The old man shouted. "If you don't get serious, I won't help you!"

"Shut up! I am being serious!"

"Then somehow find your chakra as if your life depended on it!"

"That's what I'm doing!" The blond pointed, and we spent all day trying to get something different than what we first got. The sun was setting, and the old man sighed.

"Oh....how boring. Hey, Naruto! Sayuri! The swimsuit gals have gone, so why don't we call it a day?"

"What? Let's stay a little longer! Come on, a little longer.... Just a little longer!"

"I'm hungry. And I'm pretty tired too."

"You haven't even done anything."

"You should be thankful I hung out with you!" The old man shouted.

"Lemme try one more time!" I rose my voice, taking them both by surprise.

"....All right, all right.... Then try it out." The old man crouched, and Naruto managed to get a tadpole with hind legs this time. Seeing him progress made me want to try even harder....

"Summoning Jutsu!" I put my hand down while they were arguing over the tadpole. I paused, seeing a little ball of fluffy fur standing in front of me while looking proud and its tail raised. "I did it! Pervy Sage, Naruto, look!" I scooped up the animal and excitedly showed it to them.

"It actually has teeth this time." The old man raised his brows and walked over. Pulling up the animal's lip, he looked at the small teeth that were like tiny toothpicks. "Well, at least we have confirmed it's a carnivore. Ow!" He hissed, pulling back his hand when the animal bit him.

"I still think it looks like a dog."

"Well, even at this stage it could be a number of things. Hyena, bear, coyote, whatever."

"Well, whatever it is, it's cute."

"For now." The old man glared at the animal while holding his bitten finger, and he got growled at in return.

~

Yet again, Naruto and I were training with the summoning jutsu while the old man was watching the girls at the waterfall. Kami-sama was sighing and whining about being hungry, and I tried ignoring them until Naruto yelled.

"What's a frog anyway?!" He was holding his head. "From which stage do you call it a frog?!" Sighing, I was still stuck on getting balls of fluff and teeth since I wasn't getting the help I usually did with new jutsu. Naruto, however, basically had a frog with a little tail by now.

"Naruto fainted again." I told the old man before summoning. He sighed, and went to the river to get some water. As the smoke cleared in front of me, I plopped down on the rocks. "Pervy Sage....I know what the scroll summons." My voice was low and calm as I looked at the animal looking right back at me.

"Do you now?" He said over his shoulder while crouched by the river. "What, then?"

"Wolves."

"Wolves....?" The old man turned to look, and we both looked at the young wolf still calmly sitting there. "....My, my, what a pesky scroll." He stood up and poured the water over Naruto's head. "C'mon, open your eyes already."

"W-what's that....?"

"To be clear, you have no sense."

"Oh! Pervy Sage!"

"After you've been training for 3 weeks, you are still this level. If you continue like this it's pointless."

"That's not how it is! I'm doing this with all my might!" Naruto shouted.

"I understand that, if you really want to succeed at Summoning Jutsu, you have to do it like you're going to die or it's no good at all." The old man waved his hand.

"That's what I'm doing!" The blond jumped to his feet. "I drill my chakra every day like I'm going to die. If you have time to complain about it, teach me a trick or something!"

"A trick, huh.... A trick." The old man rubbed his head.

"What?! You're going to teach us?"

"You need to risk your life on it."

"L-life....?"

"It's not a joke." The old man stated. "Even so, will you do it?"

"O-of course! I always risk my life!" Naruto raised his fists, and the old man glanced to me.

"I've already staked my life during the exams, if that's what it takes to advance....then so be it."

"Well then....follow me." And....we ended up at the bath houses. It was kind of fishy, but the only thing we did was separate to the bathhouses and bathe.

"Hey, Pervy Sage."

"I'm Toad Sage." The old man corrected as we were now walking outside.

"Whatever, but how are taking a bath and summoning related?" Naruto asked, but the old man didn't answer. "Hey, hey, hey, hey-!" The blond ran into the man when he stopped walking. "What is it?!"

"Hey....is there something you want to eat?" The boy and I looked at each other before answering.

"Ramen!" He shouted while I spoke calmly, and we walked to a little noodle place.

"I'm going to eat!" Naruto stuffed his face like I had seen him do with Ebisu. "It's good! If the training is like this, I'll do it every day!"

"Eat up! Because this is the last...."

"Huh?"

"No, nothing. Anyway, eat! Eat a lot!" The old man encouraged. He was acting a bit off, but I did as he said while keeping an eye on him. "Like there's no looking back!"

"I don't know what's going on, but I should eat, right? Okay!" The blond wolfed down the rest of his noodles and broth before smiling at the cooks. "Seconds! The next one is miso flavor too!" He....he ended up eating.... _nine_ giant bowls. "Thank you, Pervy Sage-" I glanced over after finishing the broth in my bowl and paused as I saw a giant toy frog instead of the old man.

Naruto and I had to fork over all of our money to pay for everything the three of us had eaten. Sighing as I walked next to the boy pouting over his wallet, I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Can't believe he made two kids pay for his meal too." I grumbled.

"Yo, are you two full?"

"Don't mess with me, Pervy Sage!" Naruto shouted.

"Full of regret." I said under my breath while glaring at the old man.

"Weren't you treating us with the meal?!" The boy whined.

"Fool! Who said that I was treating you?!"

"Aren't you a grown-up?! Bastard!" Naruto beat his fists on the man's chest.

"By the by, Naruto, isn't there a girl that you like? What about you, Sayuri?" The Pervy Sage questioned.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you have a lovely girl, or boy?"

"No." I replied, narrowing my eyes as I grew more suspicious of the man. Naruto started blushing and mumbling before shouting the name Sakura.

"Okay! Then go and hug that girl tight!"

"What?!" Naruto shouted. "Is that a part of the training?"

"Well, close enough."

"Okay! Right away...." The boy stopped just before he was about to run off. "But if I do that, Sakura will.... No! This is training too! I have to do it or I won't be strong.... But if I do that, Sakura will.... For a while she won't talk to me.... No! If I'm going to master Summoning Jutsu, this can't be helped! But....Sakura will.... No! But...." He was going back and forth between his choices, and I just crossed my arms while watching him.

"Hurry up and go!" The old man kicked him, sending him off on his way.

~

"Hey, if I do this I'll really get a frog?" We were walking through the forest again.

"Yes, that's definite."

"Really?" Naruto said with skepticism.

"Is there anything you've left undone? None?"

"What are you talking about?" The old man punched the boy in the gut.

"Naruto!" I shouted in surprise, but then my eyes went wide as pain shot from my stomach as the old man struck me in the same manner as the blond.

When I came to, I immediately started to panic, seeing the deep canyon bellow me.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" I cursed.

"If you don't want to die, do something about it yourself. Got it?" Looking over my shoulder, I saw it was the Pervy Sage holding me over the edge by the back of my shirt.

"Are you crazy?!" I shouted while baring my teeth at the old man.

"You wanted this." And he let go. Screaming as I flailed and sped past the the rocks on the side of the canyon, I had to think fast or plummet to my death. Focusing chakra in my hands, I tried to grab onto the rocks, but they were wet and then I realized that noise was a waterfall, not wind. _'What the Hell are you doing?! We're going to die!'_ I heard Kami-sama screeching.

"What the Hell do you want me to do?! I can't grab anything!" I yelled back. _'Tch. Go inside!'_ "Inside where, you maniac?!" _'Yourself.'_ "I don't have time for-" _'Do it!'_ I hesitated, but I knew Kami-sama's life was connected to mine in some way and they didn't want to die either.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath while the wind was whistling past my ears.

"How troublesome." I heard a voice that was clear as a bell. "I never wanted to do this, but it seems I have no choice." Looking up, I found myself no longer in the canyon as I sat before a curtain.

"So this is where you've been hiding?" I furrowed my brows while standing.

"Not really hiding, I've been in plain sight this entire time." The voice was similar to the one I always heard, so I knew who it was on the other side of the curtain. "Now, come here so we won't die."

"No." I stopped when my hand was hovering over the rope to open the curtain.

"' _No_ '?"

"No. I want to make a deal."

"You're in no position to-"

"It's either that, or I let both of us die."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I don't have a reason to live- I would." My voice was firm and unwavering.

"....What are your terms?" Pulling the rope, the curtains separated, showing a large cage filled with pillows that were various shades of red and orange. In the very center was a person, well, they could pass for a person. It looked to be a man in an ornate kimono with long, silver hair draped over his shoulder. He had a large tail that just laid there next to him as he was looking at me with bright, golden eyes.

"You stop talking to me every time I build chakra." I stated, and his animalistic ears flicked forward to attention. "And you share your chakra, as compensation." Kami-sama threw his head back in laughter. It echoed, and he rose to his feet in a graceful manner among the pillows.

"And what, exactly, would make me agree to this? What do I get in return?"

"I stay alive, meaning you stay alive." I replied as Kami-sama walked towards the bars of the cage.

"You've gained quite a bit of courage after being with that boy.... It's disgusting."

"Agree to the deal, or die."

"Fine. Give me your hand." Kami-sama's eyes began to glow and I hesitated. Holding out my hand, he grinned, showing sharp teeth before suddenly turning into an ginormous wolf and snapping at my hand.

My eyes opened as Kami-sama's teeth were sinking into my arm and the canyon was rushing past me once again. My wrist hurt and I saw blood welling from the teeth marks circling like a bracelet. _'Let's see if this works.'_ I thought while smearing the blood onto my palm.

"Summoning Jutsu!" I shouted, and there was a puff of smoke before I face planted into what I hoped was fur. I heard crunching rocks, and sat up as I sat on the head of a giant wolf. However, this one looked a bit different from the others I had summoned. It's fur was white as bleached bone, and it's body was more....human-like.

"What the.... Where the Hell am I?!" The wolf bellowed.


	14. Shirikoba

"You're huge!" I shouted while leaning over the wolf's brow.

"A human?!" The wolf looked surprised. "You've got to be kidding me...."

"Thanks for the save."

" _'Thanks for the save'? **For the save?!**_ You summoned me in a dank canyon, and all you say is _'thanks for the save_ '?!" The wolf bared his giant teeth. "Insolent child. Do you even know who I am?"

"....No."

"Let me look at you, brat." The wolf snarled, and I slid onto his snout. Walking towards his nose to where he could see me, his big, red eyes narrowed at me. "Strange looking kid...." He mumbled. "Listen here, and listen well! I'm not just anyone you summon, understand? I'm Shirikoba!"

"I'm Sayuri."

"I didn't ask for your name!"

"I was trying to be polite."

"How the Hell did you summon me anyways?" Shirikoba huffed. "I didn't hear about the passing of our scroll."

"Huh?"

"The wolf scroll." He tilted his head up slightly. "We pass it on to people we find worthy of contracting with us."

"You mean this?" I reached into the pouch and pulled out the scroll I had signed my name in. The wolf went quiet as he stared at me for a moment.

"....Oi....where'd you get that?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?!"

"I was left in a basket and this was with me." I replied.

"Tch. Ridiculous. What's your name, brat?"

"Sayuri Saboten!" I rose my voice to make sure he heard me.

"Sayuri.... Well, Sayuri, seeing as you summoned me, there must be something to you. Prove me wrong, and I'll turn you into a snack." Shirikoba snarled as he began to climb back out of the canyon.

"....There's two other names in the scroll. Did you know them?" I asked.

"Once a person makes a contract with the wolf scroll, eventually we all hear about it. It's rare, so word spreads."

"Why?" Putting away the scroll, I sat on his giant snout as he dug his claws into the rocks and went up the way I fell.

"We're proud creatures, but there's not many of us. We're picky with who we let summon us because the stronger the human, the less chance we'll die after being summoned."

"That makes sense." I said lowly. "Did....did either of them....look like me?" Shirikoba paused.

"If you're hoping to find a connection from where you came, I cannot give you those answers. Perish the thought that those two are connected to you. It's been lifetimes since either of them walked this world." The giant wolf began to climb again. "I don't know how our scroll ended up in that basket with you, but it didn't come from either of them."

"Worth a shot." I sighed.

"How did you end up falling down here?"

"Training." Frowning as Shirikoba crawled over the edge, I glanced around for that Pervy Sage. "Hey....since you don't get out much, would you like to walk around for a bit?"

"What?"

"Well, I don't know how the whole summoning thing works, but you haven't been in this world in a long time, right? If you behave, we can walk around the forest."

"If I behave? Brat, do you realize who I am?"

"You're Shirikoba. You told me your name a few minutes ago." I popped off.

"No! I mean _who_ I am! I've lived longer than you could imagine, I'm an alpha with respected followers, and you say 'if I behave'!"

"I can't really let you romp around causing destruction though." I replied. "I'd get in trouble for that."

"....I would also very much like to walk around."

"Then let's!" I scrambled to the top of his head as he stepped through the trees, towering over them as he took a deep breath.

~

"Shirikoba....what's your world like?" I questioned, laying down on the big wolf's head while lazily playing with some strands of his soft fur.

"Mm....It's very similar to this one." He replied while walking along a river. The sun was setting and I had yet to see Naruto or the Pervy Sage since earlier that day. "But quite different as well." He spoke softly now rather than shouting, and after the day I had had, I was getting rather tired.

"Is it nice?"

"Very."

"....Is it lonely?"

"It can be. But it's hard to be lonely when you have a pack."

"Is a pack like family?"

"In a way."

"That sounds nice." I mumbled. "So you really don't mind that I summoned you?"

"I mind that you summoned me in a canyon, but other than that, no. It let me have some time out here, and....you're not that bad, kid."

"That's good." I softly smiled.


	15. What To Live For

Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Furrowing my brows, I saw that I was no longer in the forest and was instead in some bed. Flinging off the blanket, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood.

....I was in the hospital. Rubbing the back of my head, I found that my hair was down too, and the last thing I remembered was falling asleep on Shirikoba's head. Sighing, I figured that old man probably dropped me off here or something. After spending weeks straining my chakra, that was probably why I was here.

Walking towards the door, I paused while reaching for it. There were bandages around my wrist. Out of curiosity, I peeked under the bandages and remembered Kami-sama's bite as I saw black marks on my skin. Taking off the wrap, I saw that the wounds were no longer bleeding, nor looked like wounds at all.

Holding my wrist up towards the light, it just looked like a tattoo of a bite mark.

"That's one way to seal the deal." I mumbled before my stomach grumbled loudly. "Food...." Lumbering into the hallway, I glanced around. There was no one in sight, and I just chose a direction I thought food might be in. Sniffing, there was something delicious smelling in that direction.

My stomach growled even louder, and I closed my eyes to heighten my sense of smell. Following it, I turned the corner and navigated the halls. I didn't even think twice about how I didn't come across anyone at all, and was only focused on the promise of a meal.

The closer I got, however, the hungrier I became. There was something strange about how my stomach growled and how good whatever I smelled was. I was drooling, and it felt like my stomach was near to eating itself.

Slamming open a door, it was then that I finally realized that this hunger wasn't mine alone, but Kami-sama's as well. The bite on my wrist itched, and I knew this hunger had to be sated before I went mad and fed without control.

"Hungry...."

"....It's you." The redhead looked back at me with his emotionless face. The boy he had fought during the preliminaries was out cold in the bed as he was wrapped in sand.

"What are you doing?" I wiped the drool from my chin, managing to keep the hunger at bay for now.

"I could ask you the same thing." He looked me up and down, then tilted his head. "The monster is hungry again?"

"....Training has been a real drain lately." I mumbled, digging my nails into the doorframe to keep from pouncing on the boy. " _I_ haven't even eaten in a while either...." Gaara glanced back to the boy with big eyebrows.

"It's hard when you have a monster inside you, isn't it?" His voice was monotone as I covered my mouth and nose. My stomach growled even louder than before, and I knew that delicious smell was coming from the redhead. Using so much chakra to summon Shirikoba must have also used a lot from Kami-sama, and that was probably the reason for this hunger.

I blinked and the boy was in front of me. I tried to step back because of how close to the edge I was, but he calmly grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me into the room. Closing the door, he pulled my hand away from my face and replaced it with his.

"Is it not frustrating how the monster corrupts you?" He asked as chakra built in his hand. "The isolation, the fear....do you even have a reason to live with what it's done to you?" I couldn't answer with his hand over my mouth and how I was devouring the chakra. I wasn't as crazed as before, so I could actually _taste_ the chakra. It left a light sting on my tongue as it was kind of spicy, but it still tasted good.

"....Is this strange? You're always so quiet." Seeming to not even think about it, he placed his other hand on top of my head. "I had a dog once." He stated. "But I accidentally killed it when it bit me." His hand was oddly gentle as he pat my head, and he pulled his hand away from my mouth when he deemed I had had enough.

"Why do you do that?" I questioned while wiping my mouth with my sleeve. "Why do you just give me your chakra?"

"Because I feel like it." Gaara replied while wiping his hand off on his pants. "And if I didn't....you'd probably do what you did in that forest and attack whoever until you've had your fill."

"....I haven't lost control though. Not since...." I trailed off, looking down while gently touching the headband tied around my neck.

"Good for you, I guess." His voice still held no emotion as he looked at me.

"Gaara....where you going to kill him?"

"Yes."

"Why?" I glanced to the boy still wrapped in sand.

"It's why I'm alive."

"What?" My brows furrowed.

"Everyone has a reason why they're alive. Mine is to kill."

"Do you not realize how ridiculous that sounds?" The boy's expression finally changed in the slightest as he narrowed his eyes. "You're not a machine. No one is only alive to kill."

"Then explain yourself." He popped off. "Why do you have that ravenous monster inside of you if not to kill? If it's not fed, it kills when it feeds and we both know that it doesn't have to do so. It chooses to. You are but it's vessel."

"I can't argue with you, I don't even know where I come from, but I do know that as I am now, that's not what I live for."

"Then what do you live for?" Gaara questioned, and I went quiet. "So you can't even-"

"At first, I lived because I was just alive. Then, it was because of my friends, but I lost them when they left me. But now, now I live because the monster inside me doesn't want to die. It may be troublesome, but it's a living, breathing thing just like you or me. I'm responsible for it. As things are now, I have to find a way to take care of it properly, and maybe, if what I do works, I can find other reasons to live. Friends, myself, to just enjoy the things the world has to offer, or even love."

"Friends and love are impossible when you have a monster inside. Once people find out about it, they'll leave you."

"Not if they're good people or in a similar situation." I replied. "You don't run from me like they did. In fact, you seem to do the opposite." The redhead opened his mouth as if to say something, but didn't. "We could be friends, Gaara. Then won't that give you something else to live for than killing other people? You won't be so alone either."

"I'm not lonely!" Gaara raised his voice.

"You have to be." I stated. "If you think you live to kill, who is there beside you? Who doesn't run from you? Who doesn't _fear_ you? It hurts. I know."

"Don't look at me like that!" He held his head with one of his hands. "Don't look at me like you can see right through." The boy rushed out of the room, grunting as he held his head as if in pain, and the sand around the other boy followed Gaara out.

Oddly....talking to the homicidal redhead had put a few things into perspective even for myself.


	16. Final Round

"Get any sleep last night?" I asked Naruto as we were walking to the arena the Third Exam would be held. It was our last test that would decide if we moved on or failed....

"No." He replied, holding the straps of his backpack as he kept his gaze on the ground. His first opponent would be that Hyuga boy, and there was no telling if he'd win against him. The odds were against him, but maybe Naruto could figure something out? "You?"

"Only a little. Are you going to be okay?"

"I can summon a frog now! I'll be okay." He laughed, but it sounded a bit forced.

~

Tumbling into the arena, I slid to a stop with my face in the dirt. Naruto was right next to me, and I groaned while sitting up.

"Why do weird things always happen around you?" I questioned. "We get lost, we get even more lost, and then chased by a herd of bulls!"

"Ehehehe!" He nervously laughed while rubbing his head. Sighing, I stood up and dusted myself off. "Just think of it as a nice warm-up!" Naruto got up while looking around. "Huh? Hey.... Where's Sasuke?"

"....That Sound ninja I'm supposed to fight isn't here, either." I mumbled.

"Hey, you guys there. Don't be restless." A man with a bandanna and a toothpick said over his shoulder. "Throw out your chests and show your faces to the spectators!"

"Huh?" The blond looked up to see the spectators' seats completely full.

"You guys are the stars of this Final Round." The man stated as the crowd roared.

"Everyone, thank you very much for coming to the Village Hidden in Leaves Chunin Exam." The Hokage rose his voice, silencing the people. "We will now begin the Final Round matches for the nine who made it through the preliminaries! Please watch until the end!" The crowd cheered again and my brows furrowed. _'Nine?'_

"I have something to tell you before the match. Look at this." The man with the toothpick pulled out a piece of paper from his vest and showed it to us. It was a new lineup for the matches and the Sound ninja was nowhere on there. "There was a slight change to the tournament. Check who you'll be facing one more time."

"Say.... Hey!" Naruto raised his hand.

"What?"

"Um....Sasuke still hasn't come. What'll happen?"

"In case a competitor does not arrive by the start time of his match....he or she will lose by default." The man replied. "Listen up, you guys. The terrain is different, but the rule is that there are no rules, the same as in the preliminaries. The matches will continue until one or the other dies, or acknowledges defeat. However, if I judge that it has been too long, I'll stop the match there. Arguments will not be allowed. Understood? So the first match is....Naruto Uzumaki....Neji Hyuga. Just those two remain and the rest of you go to the waiting room."

"....Naruto." I spoke low while turning on my heel. "Good luck."

"Thanks." His voice and face were rather serious, and it was strange to see him like that after a month of him being a goof and shouting all of the time. At least he understood the severity of his situation.

Going up to where we were to watch the fights, I leaned on the rail and looked down at the blond in the arena. We had trained hard with the Pervy Sage and reached new levels with our abilities and power, but would that be enough?

"Round one....begin!" The people roared their approval. In the arena, however, it was deathly silent. Neither of the boys were moving as they looked at each other, seeming to be thinking and sizing the other up.

Hyuga was the first to move, inching towards Naruto while the blond didn't move a muscle. There was another second of silence and still....and then Naruto initiated the fight by throwing kunais. Hyuga caught or blocked them all as the blond ran at him head on. Naruto swung a fist, and the other boy easily blocked it.

It was a flurry of orange as Naruto kept punching and kicking, but everything he did was blocked and evaded by Hyuga. Suddenly, the long haired boy struck Naruto in the chest with an opened, flat palm, pushing him back before he went to attack in a similar matter he had with Hinata in the preliminaries.

Naruto rolled away, missing most of the blow. But when he got to his feet....he was smiling.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I heard him shout, and the boy multiplied. "Heh. Don't be acting tough!" They all said at once.

Within a matter of seconds, two of Naruto's clones were gone, and the last three were next. They were talking now, but I couldn't hear them from the distance. I blinked and there were over twenty clones in the arena now and they were all running at Hyuga.

After taking out a few of the clones, he sped right through them, aiming at one in particular. Could he tell which one was actually Naruto?! He struck the blond, making him cough up blood as the other clones went up in a puff of smoke. But then....the Naruto that Hyuga had hit turned out to also be a clone as the real one struck with a clone.

It looked like his punch had landed, but then blue chakra began to swirl around Hyuga like a defensive sphere. There was so much of it as once that it was like I had ran into a brick wall and I felt my stomach clench. _'Crap!'_ Backing away from the rails, I covered my mouth and nose.

I wanted to watch the fight, but if I lost it, everything would be ruined. Running out, I went to find my bag as my stomach started to growl. I had had a feeling this might happen with the battles going on, and I had a hypothesis on how to divert the craving Kami-sama made me have.

Nearly ripping the top of my bag off, I sat with my back against the wall and began to wolf down the food inside. Maybe if I actually filled my stomach, I could keep back the hunger for chakra.

Stuffing my face with the fruits and meats, I hardly tasted any of it with the rush I was in. After eating about half of the bag, it seemed to be working....

"So this is where you went." Looking up, I saw the redhead standing there.

"I came prepared this time." I said lowly after swallowing the chewed up apple in my mouth.

"And it works?"

"So far." I looked down at the bag with furrowed brows. When I glanced back up, the boy was walking away. "....Were you worried?"

"Of course not." Gaara spat over his shoulder as if the mere thought was appalling.

"Thanks." I softly smiled.

"I wasn't worried!" He stormed off.

"Then why did you come check on me?" I asked the empty hallway.


	17. Get Away

I heard a loud explosion as the floor shook beneath my feet and I raised my head to look in the direction of the arena. I hadn't a clue as to what was happening, but I didn't dare venture back out due to the massive levels of Chakra I was feeling. It'd be too dangerous....

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I was hoping for Naruto's victory in the least. Digging in my bag, I pulled out a pear and bit into it.

~

"Sayuri!" Naruto came running up the hallway with a huge grin on his face. He looked rather beaten up, but his joy told me that he had won before his words could. "I beat Hyuga!"

"Congratulations!"

"Come on, let's watch the others!" The blond smiled, grabbing my sleeve and dragging me back to the viewing area. Once there, however, instead of the next match beginning, nothing was happening in the arena and the spectators were complaining. One of the contenders that were supposed to be fighting next had yet to show, but his disqualification had yet to be called.

"Everyone! The candidate for the next battle has not arrived here! We'll briefly postpone this battle and start the following battle ahead of it." The Proctor declared after silencing the crowd, but as soon as they heard that they were vocalizing their displeasure.

"Oh, good." Naruto sighed with relief.

"Hey! That means my match is one match closer!"

"Then, on to the next pair! Kankuro and Shino Aburame! Come down!" The man in the arena called out.

"Proctor! I abstain!" The boy with the puppet on his back shouted. "I abstain! Please advance the matches!" ....What was going on here?

"Due to Kankuro's abstention, Shino Aburame wins by default." The blonde girl unfurled a giant fan, sending out a gust of wind and riding down on it to the arena before Shikamaru was called down. The boy looked hesitant, but he didn't have much choice when Naruto enthusiastically knocked him into the arena.

"C'mon! Shikamaru, fight hard!" Naruto cheered, but the boy just laid where he had landed down below with a rather bored expression. He didn't even move when the spectators were throwing food and trash at him to get the match started.

It took Temari attacking to even get him to move, but after that it was like a waiting game as Shikamaru took cover in the trees and shade. He didn't seem all that enthused or even into the fight, yet when he actually made his move the match was over rather quickly.

I couldn't quite understand why he had given up the fight, though, because he had had Temari trapped in his jutsu and on the brink of victory when he forfeited. The boy was clearly some kind of genius with how he played the girl right into his trap, but he seriously lacked motivation....

"Why the heck did he give up?!" Naruto hit his fists onto the rail. "Is he an idiot? This ticks me off! I'm really gonna give him a lecture!"

"Naruto!" I went to stop him, but the blond had already jumped down into the arena to have a word with Shikamaru. I hadn't a clue what they were saying to each other due to the distance, but by the end of it Naruto was grinning.

And again the crowd was waiting for the match between Sasuke and Gaara. However, like before, they were impatient and yelling and booing. From the sound of it, the only reason he had yet to be disqualified was due to the fact that the people really wanted to see Sasuke's fight. They were calling for the Uchiha, but no one seemed all that interested in Gaara.

Did they not know much about the redheaded boy? Were they unaware of the high levels of Chakra stored within him? In all honesty, I worried for the Sasuke kid more than Gaara simply because I knew the redhead had massive amounts of Chakra from all the times he had let Kami-sama feed off of him.

Glancing back to Gaara, I saw him just standing there with that emotionless face, staring into the arena. He didn't seem irritated or bored, he just seemed like a blank slate with that void expression.

And now that I thought about it....if Sasuke did show up, I wouldn't be able to watch the fight. I'd have to get as far away as I could to prevent Kami-sama's hunger from getting out of control. Swallowing, I took a step back from the rails and went ahead towards the exit. It was better to be safe than sorry....

It was as I was going down the hall that I heard the loud cheering. Picking up my pace, I went down the stairs two at a time. Sure, Kami-sama and I had made a deal, but that deal didn't keep the hunger at bay in the slightest bit. And honestly....I didn't think anything ever could unless I learned how to control it myself.

But until then, I'd have to run from what caused the hunger to stir in the first place.

How far would I need to go? Was I far enough already? Should I keep going? I remembered waking up after Kami-sama had taken control....I didn't want that happening again- especially with innocent people here.

"Stop! Where do you think you're going?" Pausing, I saw a guard step right in front of me. He wore a mask so I couldn't see his face, but he raised his hand to keep me from leaving the arena.

"I....I was just going out. To get some fresh air."

"You're one of the contenders, are you not?"

"I-I am, but-"

"Get back to the spectating area."

"Sir, please, I-"

"You heard me, kid." The man's voice went dark and suddenly he grabbed me by the front of my shirt. "Get your ass back where you're supposed to be."

"I can't stay here." My voice was quiet as I paled. Gaara's Chakra was always too much, if I was here when he started building it up-

"Why not?"

"Please! I don't have time to explain! I-I need to get as far away as I ca-" I froze as I already smelled that delicious scent. "Let me go!" Becoming frantic, I tried to get the man to release me so that I could run. This Anbu shinobi hadn't a clue what was about to happen if he didn't let me go.

"What, are you scared to fight?" He laughed. "You trying to get disqualified by running?"

"N-No, I-"

"If you're so terrified of fighting them, how about I help you?" Something was off about the man as he reached for my face, but the Chakra I felt was increasing and my stomach growled. I didn't have time for this.

Wriggling, I slid right out of my shirt and dropped to the floor- I hand't even noticed when the man had picked me up. I was grateful for wearing an undershirt, and I bolted for outside as the man shouted after me.

I was so close, I could see outside the arena, I could hear the gentle breeze just beyond the doors as my stomach was clenching. The scent was becoming unbearable and I was still too close, but just as my foot hit the top step, the Anbu ninja grabbed the headbands tied around my throat.

Choking as I was yanked back, it was then I was certain this Anbu was an impostor.

"I didn't say you could leave, brat!" He growled and I let out a cut off shout as the headband went slack.

_'No. No, please, no!'_ I mentally screamed, but it was too late. The combination of the debilitating hunger and the security of the headband being ripped from me was too much.


	18. It'll Be Okay

"Aka...." I growled. "Aka....aka....aka...." My hands were covered in red, but it wasn't right. The Chakra was weak....it was wrong....disgusting. Walking away from the man I had torn to shreds, I ran my tongue over my teeth. "Hungry...."

I could smell it- delicious Chakra. So much of it....so many different kinds....all in one place as if a feast had been laid out before me. Excitement made my tail sway and I dropped to all fours to run. The hunt was on.

The first one I saw was a boy, but his Chakra was intense and bright and I went right for him. Landing right in front of him, his already fearful expression twisted even more and I grinned. His red eyes looked so close to popping out with how wide they were, and I reached for him only to stop as a loud explosion shook the air.

Jerking my head up, I saw smoke coming from a building and sensed more strong Chakras. I focused my senses on what was happening there- if a stronger opponent was near, I needed to know.

Baring my teeth, my gaze snapped to the stands after something had hit the side of my head. I didn't even look to see what it was, I just went right for where it had come from. Screams filled my ears as I sank my teeth into hot flesh, tearing chunks from their neck and shoulder, feeding until no Chakra was left.

"Aka....hungry....aka...." I growled- this was the wrong one again. Hopping onto a metal rail as blood dripped from my hands and chin, I scanned my surroundings. There was a familiar scent, but I couldn't remember what the source of it was. I just knew I was hungry....and that power.... Oh, that power tasted better than these scraps I had been feeding on. I wanted to taste it again.

Taking in a deep breath, I growled, finding that the source of the scent was no longer here as the smell had faded. My prey had run off when I was distracted. _That wouldn't happen again._

Leaping into the air, I felt the wind rush past as the ground was getting closer and closer until I landed and created a cloud of dirt and dust. Leaning forward, I bolted the same direction the scent I was following went.

Running through the trees, I found there were other scents laced in with the one I was tracking. They didn't smell as good, but I knew the Chakra from them would still taste well enough. I grinned, enjoying the chase that would inevitably end in a glorious meal.

The forest became darker as it got denser and the trees were larger, but I didn't slow my pace as I had yet to lay eyes on my prey. My stomach churned and growled, screaming its desires to be filled and fed.

I briefly passed right by some strong chakra sources, but they paled in comparison to what I was hunting and paid them no mind. They were soon far behind me and I paused on a tree branch, my claws digging into the bark. Sniffing the air, I wiped the drool from my chin before changing direction like my prey had.

My ears twitched, catching the sound of a loud crash and a the distinct noise of wood breaking. A tree had fallen not too far up ahead and I felt a maniacal grin pull at my lips. Picking up the pace, I could hear more crashing and could practically taste Chakra in the air.

"Of my existence?! Come out....Sasuke Uchiha!" Someone was yelling. "You are my....prey!" There was a pause before there was another crash and more shouting. "There you are!" And that was when I finally caught up to what I was hunting.

"Aka!" Baring my fangs, I crashed feet first into the beast so full of Chakra. The branches beneath the strange looking boy broke with every impact until the ground was coming into view and a large, clawed hand swung around and threw me into a tree. "Aka!" Crawling out of the hole in the tree from where I had landed, my gaze turned to the curling cloud of dust and dirt from the forest floor.

A roar of rage echoed from below and I grinned when I saw that head of red hair. Flexing my claws, I pounced, heavily colliding with my prey half way. He wouldn't go down easy, but that only excited me more. The stronger, the better. I was going to enjoy feasting on this incredibly strong Chakra.

His human shouting turned feral as we kept going through the forest, barreling right through trees and destroying branches in our wake.

My teeth sank into flesh, biting down on one of his arms that he used to keep my jaws from closing on his shoulder. Large claws raked down my back, trying to get me off, but I was already feeding now that I had a hold on him. The wounds on my back were healing from the Chakra I was receiving until I was ripped away and thrown.

"You damn parasite!" He roared, his arm bleeding as he held onto it.

Licking my lips, I tasted blood that burned with Chakra and swallowed. My tail swayed and I couldn't stop grinning as my claws dug into the tree bark beneath me. I saw the boy pause, his expression falling for a second before he too was grinning, showing his incredibly sharp teeth from his more beastly looking half that lead to his more human side.

"Predator." He growled before sprouting a large tail as he held onto the branch he stood on. "Here goes!" He launched himself at me, increasing his speed and I leapt into the air to dodge. A roar coming closer signaled he was already attacking again and I twisted in time to block his strike. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest but I wasn't afraid- not in the slightest bit.

Locking my claws into his arm, I turned and kicked him right in the chest. A tree collapsed from him bursting right through the trunk and the arm in my hands turned to sand after I had ripped it off.

Sand.

I knew something about Chakra and sand. But....what was it? My stomach growled and I heard calls of distress just before the boy came back into view with his opposite arm in the beastly manner now.

"Hungry...." Running my tongue over my teeth, I jumped and we were clashing again. I got more Chakra from him with every bite and he was beginning to slow down. I cackled, drooling from the prospects of the meal to come. Aiming my attacks for his legs now, I was getting closer and closer to taking him down.

I crashed into a tree when he used his tail to guard himself and hit me. Quickly getting to my feet, I paused as he began to laugh.

"Are you really that hungry?!" He yelled at me. "You're actually coming for my life, aren't you?!" The boy seemed amused and I stood up all of the way as my expression went serious. "Only one of us will die here and it isn't me! Come on, Sayuri!"

....Sayuri?

No....

Baring my teeth, I held my head in discomfort.

Sand. Aka. Sayuri. Chakra. Sand. Aka. Sayuri. Chakra. Sand. Aka. Sayuri-

"No!" I screamed, dropping my head between my knees as I held it. It felt like my skull was splitting as I snarled and dug my claws into my scalp. "No! Not-....Not! Sayuri!" Roaring, I made the air shake as I battled to keep the darkness from settling in.

"What's the matter? Hurry up and come at me!" Looking back at the boy I saw that he was even more beastly in appearance than before. "What's the matter?! Are you afraid of me?! Fight me! What happened to the boldness you had earlier?! Show me your strength! I'll throw it to the ground!"

"....Aka...." My breathing was much calmer now as I smelled the Chakra thickly in the air. "....Gaa....ra...." The word felt foreign on my lips but it was plaguing my mind just as much as the hunger. The boy blinked and suddenly found me on his shoulders, holding his face that looked more like an animal than a person.

Looking into those mostly black eyes I realized that even though I was hungry all I wanted to do was feed- not kill. This Chakra he possessed was just absolutely delicious and if I kept him alive I could have it whenever I pleased.

Pushing his head to the side, I bit down on the apex of his neck and shoulder. Digging my claws into his back, I locked on and wouldn't let go even as he was shouting and trying to yank me off. I ignored the pain from the large claws tearing into my back, I knew any wound would heal as I was draining the boy of Chakra.

"Get off of me! Get off! Get off! Get off!" He screamed, but I only held on tighter and the more I ate the weaker he got and the more sluggish his movements became. Sand began to fall from him as he was loosing control until all he had left was just a beastly arm and his knees buckled. "No...."

Planting my feet onto the tree branch, I still had my claws in his back and held him up. Unlatching my teeth, I licked the blood from my lips and chin.

"I....can't....lose...." The boy growled and he grabbed me by my throat. It was easy to pull his hand away with how weak he was now and I looked down at him with a calm expression now that my hunger had been sated.

"Gaara." I bounced around him, wrapping him up in my tail while holding onto him. "Aka."

"Let....go of me!" He struggled, but with how he was now there was no way he could break free. "You stupid dog!" I ignored his angry shouting and began to lick at the most recent bite mark I had inflicted. Now that I had decided I'd keep this delicious morsel alive, I wanted to keep him to where he could still recover Chakra I could then feed on later.

Sleep was beginning to take a hold on me now that I was full and I was content with the oncoming nap- when I woke the hunt would be on once again.

~

"Sayuri!" I could hear a familiar voice shouting my name but I didn't respond. "Sayuri!!" Sniffing, I continued to walk on. I didn't want who I knew that voice to belong to to see me like this. "Stop!" Looking up as the boy dropped down right in front of me, he hesitated while seeing the state I was in. "S-Sayuri, what-"

"I did it again." I said through tears. "I did it again, but this time it was...."

"What....what are you talking about?"

"Gaara." The blond looked to the boy I had been carrying on my back for the past ten minutes. I had woken up in some tree, dirty and covered in blood, and Gaara was right in front of me. He had been unconscious and unresponsive since I woke up and I knew it was my fault from the scratches and the bite marks on him.

"Sayuri, what happened to him?!" Naruto paled and the tears only came harder, making it difficult to speak.

"Take him! Naruto, you have to take him and run! Run as fast as you can and don't look back."

"What happened?!"

"Me!" I yelled, baring my teeth as guilt and regret weighed heavily in my stomach. "I did this! I'm....I'm a _monster_ , you have to get him and yourself as far away as you can." My vision blurred from the tears as they refused to stop pouring from my eyes. "This is how I repay him.... After all he's done for me, I still do this to Gaara. I should have just died!"

Naruto looked at me with a strange expression on his face before I suddenly found myself being hugged.

"Stop it! Naruto, you need to run! I-I don't know when I'll blackout again. You-You have to-" My body shook from how hard I was crying. "You have to-"

"Shut up!" His hold on me tightened and his voice sounded strained. "You're not a monster, Sayuri."

"Naruto, you don't understand." I sniffed. "There's something horrible inside of me and I can't control it."

"It's okay." Naruto said in the softest voice I had ever heard him speak in. "It'll be okay, Sayuri. I know it." And the certainty in the blond's words only made me cry even harder.

"But-"

"It _will_. As long as we stick together. We're friends, right?" Wait....was he....was he crying, too? "You're not a monster. You shouldn't have died. I know you, Sayuri. So what if you've got a beast inside of you? So do I." I felt his hands ball into fists, clinging to my shirt. "The pain of being all alone....really is unbearable, isn't it? The way that you feel....I completely understand that it hurts." My heart ached from what he was saying and how he spoke from personal knowledge.

"Gaara!" Temari and Kankuro dropped down from the trees, looking to their younger brother with wide eyes as Naruto took a step back from me.

"What did you do?!" Temari gasped, seeing the state that Gaara was in. Naruto, without hesitation, stood between the siblings and I in a protective manner.

"Stop.... I've had enough." A low voice came from my shoulder.

"Gaara?" Kankuro shifted on his feet as the redhead weakly moved to get off of my back. He stumbled when his legs gave out, but I caught him and helped him to stand.

He didn't push me away, he didn't glare at me....he didn't look anything but tired while glancing to Naruto and then his siblings. Kankuro took Gaara from me, and the three left without another word.

"He'll be okay." Naruto placed a hand onto my shoulder in a reassuring manner.

~

The funeral for the Hokage and the fallen nin was a solemn one with everyone dressed in black. There were no smiling faces, no laughter, nothing but sorrowful expressions and rain from the dark clouds blocking out the sun.


	19. Ramen Breakfast

"Sayuri!" Looking up as my name was called, I saw Naruto running at me with a huge grin while waving. I gave a small wave in return as he got closer. "Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"No."

"Ah! Want to come get ramen with me?" He rested his fists onto his hips while still grinning.

"....Sure."

"Let's go!" And he started to run down the street. Watching him for a second, I felt a strange sense of ease. This boy....he knew about the beast inside of me and yet he didn't turn away from me like the others. Was it because he understood? That he knew what it was like personally?

Whatever the reason was....Naruto had this odd ability to make me feel like I belonged and that someone actually cared about me. Sighing through my nose, I smiled and ran to catch up to the blond.

~

"What? That is absolutely strange." Naruto whined while digging through his pockets.

"Sorry, but if you don't have a ticket, there's no ramen."

"No, wait a minute! I absolutely had one more. The one I gave Konohamaru, was it the last?" Naruto was turning out his pockets looking for the free ramen ticket, and I just sat down while dropping some coins onto the counter.

"Come on. I can only buy you one, though. I can't afford your appetite."

"Sayuri!" Naruto made this expression like he was going to get really emotional really fast, but I put up my hand before he could.

"It's a loan, not a gift. Pay me back with training." I stated and the blond got a glint in his eye.

"Perfect! I was going to train after breakfast anyways!" He plopped down beside me and we ordered two bowls of ramen. Outside, all over he village, repairs to the wall and buildings were being done. A lot of damage had come from the attack during the Final Exam, but the people were slowly making progress to fix it all. However, a new Hokage had yet to be named so those on the highest rungs just below Hokage were temporarily in charge to keep things in order and from getting out of hand.

Naruto and I paused as the old man behind the counter dropped another serving of noodles into our bowls.

"You're training after this, right? Another serving for free! Go for it!"

"Thank you, sir!" Naruto and I both grinned before digging in as the old man smiled kindly at us.

"Welcome!"

"Just like I heard.... I had to come and see it." I paused at the familiar voice behind me. "It seems that you really are just eating ramen."

"Oh, Pervy Sage!" Naruto's voice was muffled by all of the noodles hanging out of his mouth.

"Oh, even Sayuri's here!"

~

"What?! Why?! Why?! Why do we have to go on a research trip with you, Pervy Sage?"

"Oh no, this isn't just any research trip. There's a woman whose data I want to collect. So we have to look for her first." He winked while pointing and I cringed.

"We really don't have time to accompany you on your perverted research trip! We have training!"

"Hm? Training?"

"I will take lessons from Kakashi Sensei and learn a variety of things, like Chidori!"

"Chidori?"

"Ah, right! You didn't see it!" Naruto turned to me. "It's a lightening technique!"

"Well, I think that technique is impossible for you to learn." The old man piped up.

"Hmph." Naruto put his hands behind his head.

"More importantly....that woman is really beautiful. You want to meet her, don't you?!"

"Not at all. I'm not some kid who can be cajoled by you, Pervy Sage! Anyway, no!"

"Well, it can't be helped.... Oh, well....I know Jutsu more amazing than Chidori, but.... It can't be helped.... Maybe I'll take Sasuke and Sayuri instead?"

"Of course I'll go!" Naruto ran in front of the Pervy Sage to stop him from walking away. "I'll pack my bags right away! Pervy Sage, don't move!" And the blond was already racing away while kicking up a cloud of dust.

"I'll be damned.... He's really a cute kid." The old man chuckled while rubbing the side of his head.

~

"All right." Naruto adjusted his headband before grabbing the straps of his backpack. I just stood there with a blank expression, eyeing the massive pack that very well may contain everything the blond owned. "Here I go!" The blond yelled, but he wasn't even budging.

"Y-you're putting too much spirit into it. You're not training on a mountain retreat, you know that, right?" Pervy Sage questioned and I just kept watching the blond to see if he could really carry the backpack.

"Naruto....have you ever been on an away mission? What all did you pack?"

"Just essentials!" He replied, but I highly doubted that was the truth as the backpack was four times the size of the blond.


	20. Sannin

"Hey, Pervy Sage. What Jutsu are you gonna teach us this time?" Naruto excitedly walked around the old man, also now having a smaller pack he could actually carry. "The last time was Walk-on-Water Jutsu, so is it gonna be Walk-on-Fire Jutsu? Or maybe Walk-on-Air? Hurry up and tell me, Pervy Sage!"

"You keep calling me Pervy Sage. So you have no idea that I'm a superb person, huh?"

"Huh? A superb Pervy Sage?"

"Listen carefully!" The old man ran up onto the bridge in front of us and then hopped on one foot. "Toad Sage is only a disguise! As a matter of fact-" He posed. "North and South and East and West! I'm the white-maned toad charmer, and one of the legendary Sannin whom even celestial beings can't defeat." An orange toad with stripes appeared on the bridge. "Such a stud that he strikes fear in the hearts of people! I am no other than _'Master Jiraiya'!_ " He posed again. "Yes, I'm talking about me!"

"Huh...." Naruto droned as we walked right past the old man on the bridge.

~

"Atafuku town?"

"Says it's ten kilometers away." I stated while pointing to the sign.

"It's _O-_ tafuku Town." Pervy Sage corrected.

"Hey, hey! Hey, Pervy Safe!"

"I'm telling you, it's Jiraiya. Gimme a break...."

"So the fact that such a bigwig Pervy Sage like you is taking us along as his travel companions means....we're potentially geniuses?!" Naruto grinned while standing in front of the old man. "Just as I thought!" The man didn't say anything as he just looked at the blond. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Why did you choose me?" He asked while running in a circle.

"A long time ago, the Fourth Hokage was my disciple."

"Huh?"

"And you resemble the Fourth Hokage so much, it's almost funny. That's the only reason...." The old man said before walking past Naruto.

"....Then why am I here?"

"Uh....because-"

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Naruto ran by while screaming and his hands in the air, looking overjoyed.

"W-what is it?"

"The fact that I resemble the Fourth Hokage means that I also possess genius of his level, right?" Naruto yelled. "I'll become the Hokage, after all! All right!" He was jumping around and cheering, until his face fell and he landed....right in animal poop. "Aaahh! I stepped on some dog poop!"

"About the only areas you resemble the Fourth Hokage are your hair and your stubbornness!"

"What was that?! You senile Pervy Sage!" Naruto paused. "Not again!" He whined since he had yet again stepped in the dog crap and the old man sighed.

~

Naruto was swinging from the bell ribbons, jingling them every time he grabbed them and swung between the two in front of the temple we had stopped to rest at.

"Stop! You'll get cursed." Pervy Sage warned.

"Hey, Pervy sage!"

"Huh?"

"What kind of a student was the Fourth Hokage?" There were now four Narutos, two at each bell.

"Well, I guess one could say that he developed to that extent because he was my student.... You're lucky to be taught by me! Are you dubious? A good teacher will develop good disciples. That goes without saying."

"Then who taught you, Pervy Sage?"

"Me? I learned from the Third Hokage." He grinned.

"The Third Hokage?"

"That's right.... The Third Hokage was still young and lively."

"The Third Hokage....young and lively?" All four Narutos made faces while looking at the old man.

"That's right! I was young and lively too!"

"Young and lively?!" The Narutos tripped and pulled down the temple bells with them. Three disappeared, leaving the real Naruto as he got tangled and fell down the stairs.

"See....you got cursed. So you learned from Kakashi. Then you experienced the 'Bell Training', right?"

"Huh? Yeah! I did!" The blond's face fell. "Only I was tied to the tree trunk and had one deuce of a time...."

"What? You, too?"

"Huh? What do you mean by 'you, too'? What do you mean by 'you, too'?"

"Why don't you just hurry, get up and return those things."

"Even if you were to say that....it's pretty difficult...." Naruto struggled with the bell ribbons and I stood up while sighing. Going down the steps to where Naruto was in the road, I grabbed bells and yanked on them, sending the blond flying as he spun out of the ribbons. "Whoa!" He cried out, but landed on his feet with his head swaying from getting dizzy.

Resting one bell on each shoulder, I carried them back up to the temple.

"Thanks, Sayuri!" Naruto yelled and I softly smiled with my back still to him. Setting one bell down, I jumped to he wooden beam where the bells had been and tied the massive thing back to where it had come from before getting the other and replacing it as well.

~

"This town is pretty weird." The blond mumbled as we passed people in the street and different stalls selling various things from candy to raffles.

"Naruto! Sayuri! We're staying here tonight!" The Pervy Sage called from a hotel.

"What?! I can still walk!"

"A disciple should obey his master!"

"I just want to learn the Jutsu!"

"Naruto, maybe the old man is tired." I popped off as we walked towards the front desk.

"Heh, maybe! Are you tired already, Pervy Sage?!" Naruto yelled and the man gave Naruto an irritated look until his attention turned elsewhere. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a woman standing in the street in a short, blue dress as she flipped her hair. Turning back, Naruto and the old man were both drooling over the woman and I rolled my eyes.

"Naruto! Here's the key to your room. Go to the room ahead of me, practice Chakra, train some and go to sleep! Got it?"

"What?! 'The adult world is gonna begin from this point on'- is that the vibe, Pervy Sage?! That's not fair!" Naruto shouted and I plucked one of the keys from his hand.

"You two can share a room." I then walked away, looking at the room number on the key.

"Sayuri! Come on, don't you want to learn the Jutsu, too?!"

"I do, but there's no use when he's already gone."

"Huh?!" Naruto looked back to where the old man had been and finally noticed the Pervy Sage had left.

~

"Sayuri!" Naruto whined. "Let's have another battle royal!"

"There's no space here for that." I replied, not even bothering to open my eyes as I sat on the floor in the middle of the room.

"How about we just spar then?"

"Still no space." I stated and the blond collapsed onto the floor out of boredom and groaned. "Why don't you just practice like the old man said?"

"What's the point?" He grumbled and I finally opened my eyes.

"To have control, Naruto."

"Huh?"

"We have two Chakras, remember? This entire time we've only been learning to control one, not the other. Learning to use both will become a great advantage that most others won't have." Pointing, I raised my eyebrows while looking to the blond on the floor. "And you must be stronger to become Hokage." That got his attention and he hopped up, getting into the same sitting position I was in and mirrored my movements. "It may seem pointless at a first look, but even this task has deeper meaning." Closing my eyes again as I put my hands together, I knew Naruto would finally sit still for at least a short while until he grew tired of the silence.

For now, at least, he wasn't yelling.


	21. Itachi and Kisame

"I'll get it!" Naruto jumped to his feet as there was a knock at the door. It hadn't even been twenty minutes since the blond had sat down, and I glanced to the door as he unlocked it.

A man in a long cloak stood in the doorway, his eyes red with black markings- Sharingan. Naruto froze as he looked up at the man....did he know him?

"Really....who'd believe a kid like you to have the Nine-Tailed Fox in him?" Another man stepped into view, taller than the first, and Naruto paled. _'Nine-Tailed Fox?'_

"Naruto, you will come with us." The shorter one stated and I stood, quickly pulling the blond behind me.

"Oh? There's another runt!"

"Shall we go outside?" The black haired man questioned, completely ignoring me. Holding onto Naruto, I cautiously stepped into the hall and the two men stepped back to allow us to exit the room.

"Naruto.... _run_." I pushed him back before quickly building up Chakra and the blue man grabbed the hilt of a large sword on his back.

"Long time no see....Sasuke." The black haired man's words made everyone in the hall pause and look to the boy on the other end of the hall.

"Uchiha....Itachi!" The boy growled and within a split second I noticed the physical similarities between the two dark haired males. Where they related?

"Huh.... Sharingan...." The blue man grinned, showing a mouth full of shark-like teeth. "And moreover, he resembles you a lot.... Who the heck is he?"

"He's my younger brother." The other man calmly replied.

"But I heard the entire Uchiha clan had been murdered....by you."

"Uchiha, Itachi....I will kill you!" The boy began to build up Chakra at a fast pace as he glared. "It's as you said. I held a grudge against you and hated you. For the singular purpose of killing you, I.....have lived my life!" Sasuke's hand grew bright as electricity sparked from his palm and grew more intense.

My stomach growled and I clenched my jaw, the hunger was manageable for now, but I didn't know if the boy could build more Chakra.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

"I'll kill you!" And the boy ran at the man, the lightening around his left hand destroying the wall along the way. "Die!" The attack was diverted so quickly that I barely even saw it, but the end result was the room we had been in was completely destroyed and the man had Sasuke by his wrist. The man squeezed, hurting Sasuke and Naruto began to build a Chakra stronger than his usual one and my stomach growled even louder.

"Sasuke!" Naruto screamed as the other boy went down from a broken arm. I needed to do something quick before I lost control from the hunger.

The blue man swung his sword while it was still covered and suddenly the scent of Naruto's Chakra was gone.

"Wha-?"

"My sword Shark Skin has the ability to cut through and eat Chakra!" Something beneath the bandages covering the large sword was moving, but my interest was peaked by his words rather than the movement. _'Eat Chakra?'_ "It's a pain in the butt if the kid moves around and uses Jutsu like that.... Before these legs, should I chop off these arms?"

He swung his sword down towards Naruto again, but I finally made a move. Without building Chakra, I jumped and spun in the air, kicking the broad side of the sword and knocking it into the wall. I had taken the man by surprise and I used that to my advantage, lunging at him while quickly building Chakra in my palms.

I barely made contact with how fast the man was to react, but I made contact nonetheless and he was sent flying back a few feet until he used the giant sword to stop his momentum. The blue man was looking at me now with wide eyes and the black haired one shot me a look, finally acknowledging my presence.

"Naruto....go get the old man." I stated, not taking my eyes off the two adults.

"Sayuri-"

"Just do it!" My tone went harsh and I glanced to the boy on the ground. I couldn't take these two by myself, not without blacking out, but blacking out would put the boy and anyone else nearby at risk. However, I could try to hold them off until the Pervy Sage got here.

"The runt's got some skill." The blue man grinned, waving his sword to the side. _'Okay, don't try too much. Just get in close and feed.'_ I thought, shifting my stance while calculating the outcomes of this fight. Without Kami-sama's step-by-step, I would actually have to think about what moves to make.

But if I could just get close enough, even to only their arm, I could feed on their Chakra to weaken them. But to get that close....it wouldn't be easy.

"Naruto! Go already!" I hissed, but before anyone could make another move, smoke appeared and a giant armored toad was standing in front of me as the smoke cleared.

"You must not know me very well! This man, Jiraiya, does not fall victim to any woman's allurement, but rather his forte is winning women's affections!"

"You were totally excited by a lame tactic like a woman winking at you!" Naruto shouted and I felt relieved that the Sannin was here. "You shouldn't be the one to try acting all suave and cool, you Pevery Sage!"

"Like I said, don't call me that in front of people."

"Be quiet! More importantly these people aren't normal, Pervy Sage! Didjya hear me, Pervy Sage!"

"Like I said, don't call me _'Pervy Sage'_!"

"You are, after all, Master Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin...." The blue man chuckled. I didn't believe that I'd be able to stop you so easily despite the fact that you are a huge womanizer."

"What?! You know the true identity of Pever Sage?!" Naruto was boisterous as normal, showing that he too felt more comfortable in this situation with the old man there.

"Well no, that's not necessarily who I really am...."

"Seems like you released the Genjutsu that we had put on that woman."

"You shouldn't call yourself a man for using such a cowardly tactic like casting a Genjutsu on the woman with your hypnotic eyes to separate me and the kids. So your target is them, after all." Jiraiya's tone went serious and harsh.

"Them? We're only here for Naruto." The black haired man stated. "To abduct Naruto is the #1 priority placed by our organization, Akatsuki!"

"I can't let you have Naruto." The old man replied as the toad vanished.

"I wonder about that."

"This is perfect.... I'll get rid of you two right here!"

"Don't butt in!" Sasuke snarled, forcing himself to stand. "The one that's going to kill him is....me!" He was clearly in pain and his breathing was labored as he still had such a hateful look in his eyes.

"Right now, I have no interest in you...."

"Don't mess with me!" Sasuke shouted, running at his older brother with his fist clenched. However, the older Uchiha easily kicked the younger one and sent him to the other end of the hall until he hit the back wall.

"Sasuke! Damn you!"

"Naruto! I told you not to butt in!" Sasuke pulled himself to his feet while using the wall. "I told you....I've lived only for this very day....for this very day!" He ran for the black haired man again. Once more, Sasuke's attack was blocked and then countered, making him spit up blood as he hit the back wall a second time.

"Not....yet...." The boy struggled to lift his head.

"You can't even make a hand sign at this point."

"This is....my battle!"

"Fine." Itachi turned and Jiraiya moved to interfere but was stopped by he blue man.

"You heard that, didn't you? This is their battle. Let's not bother with it."

"Fine then!" Sasuke jumped up only to get kneed right in the gut. The older Uchiha was beating on the younger without remorse and I could feel Naruto itching to do something.

"He doesn't show any mercy."

"You are weak." The black haired man slammed Sasuke against the wall by his throat. "And you are weak....because you don't have enough hate."

"Hasn't changed at all.... Using Tsukiyomi: Nightmare Realm on your own little brother." The blue man smirked as the boy was screaming in agony.

"Stop it already!" Naruto bolted, going for the brothers and the blue man chased him. Now was my chance with him being distracted. I ran and jumped, landing right on the blue man's back while yanking down the high collar of his cloak. He shouted in surprise from my teeth sinking into the back side of his neck, and he reached to yank me off until he stumbled from the sudden loss of Chakra.

"What the-" The blue man tried again to pull me off and I held on even as the entire hallway turned to what looked like....flesh.

"Th-this is...."

"Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Trap!" Sasuke was mostly absorbed into the wall while the two men's feet sank into the floor. "How unfortunate, Itachi, Kisame. You guys are already inside my stomach! I summoned the esophagus of the giant toad of the Mt. Myomoku rock cave. You guys are wanted criminals anyway. I'll turn you guys into fodder for the stone toad." Jiraiya smirked and I jumped back off of the blue man as he swung at me.

Jumping again as soon as my foot touched the floor, I went by Naruto. If he was in fact their target....I'd die before letting them get him.

"Wha-what is this?!"

"Naruto, you stay still! Don't worry, it's my Jutsu!"

"Kisame, come here." Itachi commanded.

"That brat!" The blue man snarled, struggling to tear his feet and sword from the fleshy floor. "She took some of my Chakra!" He ran down the hall and the black haired man eyed me once more.

"It's useless! There hasn't been one person who has been able to escape from this!" The old man stated as the two of them ran for it, going around the corner before there was a loud explosion.

"Pervy Sage!" Naruto yelled as Jiraiya ran, going the way the two men had gone. "What's the matter?!" Chasing the blond, he only stopped when he reached the end of the hall. Straight ahead was a gaping hole in the wall, the edges lit with black flames and the old man's face went serious. "...What's with this fire? It's all black."

"Don't get so close!" Jiraiya warned while pulling out a scroll and Naruto jumped back. The old man took out a brush and ink and rolled out the scroll, showing that it was blank before he began to write on it. "All right. Sealing Jutsu: Fire Seal!" He made some signs and something came from the scroll and put out the fires. "All right! It'll be okay for now. Now, for Sasuke."

"Sasuke!" Naruto went to catch the boy as he came out of the wall. The old man slammed his foot down and the flesh in the hall receded, showing the hotel once more.

A kunai suddenly hit the wall and there were running footsteps.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

"Guy-?!" The man in green came flying down the hall and kicked the old man right in the face.

~

"Well.... Eh.... I'm sorry to have kicked you so directly. I was in a rush and I forgot my mirror...." The man was nervously rubbing the back of his head. "I used this headband instead, but it was hard to see. I assumed this rough-hewn face was the enemy.... I just let the flames of the burning juvenescence take over me.... I'm sorry!"

"Is that....supposed to be an apology?"

"I'm a simple-minded guy just like how my face looks."

"It doesn't really matter. More importantly, we have to get Sasuke to the Medical Team!"

"Yes!"

"He's broken his arm and ribs. Not only that, he's lost consciousness from some kind of mental blow he received from the Visual Jutsu!"

"Pervy Sage! Is Sasuke going to be all right?"

"Seems like he's received a significant amount of mental damage." The old man replied and Naruto looked pissed as his eyes were swirling with rage and regret.

"Damn.... Why?! Why did that guy do this to Sasuke?!" His hands were balled into fists as he shook. "Hey, Pervy Sage! We've gotta change our plan! I got scared earlier, but this time I'm going to chase those black-capes and get them! It's me that they want, right?! Then, I'll be the one to make my way over!"

"They'll only kill you, Naruto." I calmly said while grabbing the back of his head and lightly pushing it down. "Not even I would be able to defeat them. They're on a completely different level from either of us."

"Then, are we just going to keep running away?!" The blond turned on me, swatting my hand away and I crossed my arms. "Are we supposed to keep living in fear?!"

"No." Locking eyes with Naruto, he seemed to pause. "We get stronger." Casting my eyes to Sasuke, I softly sighed through my nose. "We train to fight back."

"Sorry, Guy-sensei. I thought I'd spare the boy's feelings, but....I should have saved him sooner."

"Kakashi has also come down with the same Jutsu.... We don't know when he will regain consciousness."

"Kakashi Sensei?!" Naruto looked shocked and even I turned to look at Guy. Kakashi was the silver haired man, was he not?

"When my students are hurt....I always wish, from the bottom of my heart....if that person, who is a medical specialist, were here...."

"That's why we're going to go find her now." Jiraiya replied.

"What? You mean _her_? Could it be....?"

"Yes, that's right. The one who uses the slug and drives illnesses away, and who is also one of the Sannin like me.... Princess Tsunade with the letter 'Gamble' on her back!"


	22. Water Balloon Training

Leaving town, Guy took Sasuke and even gave Naruto a green body suit like his own. The man tried to give me one as well, but I wasn't nearly as enthused with the garment as Naruto was....

Walking along the dirt road, birds chirped from the trees and power lines overhead. The blond boy walking beside me had been awfully quiet for a while now, and when he suddenly stopped he looked to the old man while speaking lowly.

"Pervy Sage.... Why are they after me?" Jiraiya just looked back at Naruto with a firm expression. "You know, don't you, Pervy Sage? Tell me why."

"They're not really after you.... They're after what's inside of you."

"What on earth is this thing? It's a horrible demon that attacked Konaha, right? And was dreaded by all.... So why do they want it so much?" Naruto rubbed his stomach where the black seal was located.

"Indeed, the Nine-Tailed fox is a demon that appears at each critical juncture throughout the ages destroying everything in its path.... And people feared it like an act of nature. The reason they want that thing....for what purpose....honestly, I can't quite say. Just that now that the Nine-Tailed Fox is sealed up inside of you....they might be thinking they want that power in their control. It must be harsh to know that Ninja like them would keep coming after you, but well, that's your destiny." The man explained and Naruto glanced to me.

"Then why weren't they after Sayuri, too? They didn't even know or care that she was there."

"I don't think they knew." Jiraiya waved his hand. "The village knows about the fox in you, Naruto, but none of us, not even the previous Hokage, knew about Sayuri. So, I'm not surprised they didn't either."

"But now they do." I piped up, shifting on my feet. "I mean, now they know I can take Chakra, and that's not quite a normal thing. They'll no doubt figure it out."

"I'm not too sure about that." The old man rubbed his chin. "Not even I have figured out what's inside of you."

"But it's got to be a demon, too, right? I mean, she did defeat Gaara and he's like me."

"Possibly, but there's more in this world than just demons and people. Remember that."

"Do you think maybe this Tsunade person might know?"

"It's possible."

"Okay! Let's go find them then!" Naruto perked up. "We can ask her and have her save Sasuke and get down to some serious training!"

~

"The beautiful woman you want to conduct 'research' on....that's this Tsunade person, isn't it?" Naruto questioned.

"Whoa! That's sharp coming from you! And what about it?"

"She's part of the Sannin thing like you, right, Pervy Sage?"

"Yes, and what of it?"

"How....old is she?"

"My age." Jiraiya gave a thumbs up.

"So, well....what kind of person is this Tsunade like?"

"Oh, you want to know?"

"Yes."

"Let's see.... Put simply, she's an unpleasant type. Besides that, she's a die-hard gambler and her face is known far and wide for it."

"Then we should have no problems finding her if she's that famous!"

"She's famous, all right.... Legendary, you might say. She's known as the Legendary Sitting Duck! But no matter how famous the Legendary Sitting Duck is, I doubt we'll find her right away."

"Why not?" I asked as Jiraiya crossed his arms.

"She hates growing old so much she's probably used some special Jutsu to change her appearance. She's actually 50 years old, but no doubt she looks like she did when she was 20.... And not just that, recently I heard that she transforms into her teens or 30's or 40's, whatever the situation calls for to escape moneylenders."

"What?! That's a horrible thing to do!"

"Tsunade has always loved to gamble more than anything. But she has terrible luck and no skill. She was always being played for the Sitting Duck and the name stuck.... Then she was always borrowing money and skipping out on her debts, too. Ah, it brings back memories." Jiraiya shook his head while laughing.

"This is no time to be getting all nostalgic! Tell me, how do you propose we go about finding her?!"

"Well, we may very well have to put our noses to the ground, but we're not without our little tricks."

"What?! So you have no idea how long it's going to take?!"

"We won't be wasting any time. All of our time on the road will be time to train. Time to make you two stronger!"

"Okay!" Naruto set down his backpack and dug through it, pulling out the green body suit he got from Guy.

"No, no.... I told you that is definitely out. I won't be seen walking with someone dressed like that." The old man waved his hand at Naruto.

~

"Come on, Pervy Sage! Let's hurry up and start training!"

"Now, now, don't get ahead of yourself. The training won't mean anything unless it's done in the process of gathering information on Tsunade." The old man explained while glancing to Naruto, and I had to admit even I was intrigued by what new method of training Jiraiya had in store for us.

"Huh? Gathering information?" Naruto furrowed his brows as we neared a rail.

"In this town." Looking over the rail on the edge of a cliff, there was an entire town down below.

"Wow!"

~

Getting into town was easy with stairs carved into the side of the cliff, and it was bustling with people and vendors in the main market. There were even games, and Jiraiya told us this is where we'd be staying for a little while as we trained. He let us loose with a spending limit after Naruto brought out his fat frog wallet and sent us on our way to have a day of fun.

"Hey, Sayuri! How about we get some food first?" The blond grinned, dragging me to a dumplings stand. "I'll take two orders of octopus dumplings, sir!"

"Got it!" The cook behind the counter made up our order and before I could even eat it Naruto was dragging me to another food stand. He was getting two of everything, running from one side of the market to the other until he was finally satisfied.

"I think I ate a bit too much." Naruto sighed while rubbing his stomach and I chuckled.

"You think?" We laid down on our backs in the grass, looking up to the bright blue sky above as our stomachs settled.

"I wonder how everyone's doing. Kakashi-sensei....Sasuke....Sakura." The boy's tone was soft before he glanced to me. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Isn't there someone you hope is doing okay?"

"....A few. But they aren't really on speaking terms with me." I laced my fingers behind my head, smelling the grass beneath me and all the scents from the food stalls on the breeze. "I do worry about Gaara, though."

"He's fine, I know it! He's like us, Sayuri, so don't worry about him too much." Naruto gave me a thumbs up but I didn't respond other than a hum. "Come on, we should go work off our meal!" He bounced to his feet and grabbed his and Jiraiya's bag. I picked up mine and our trash and we went back for games. Since Naruto bought all the food, my share of the budget was going on playing games.

"All right! Perfect!" Naruto and the watching crowd cheered since the last ball he through broke through the last square on the target. Compared to throwing shurikens, this game was just easier training for that. We also tried catching goldfish with paper nets, but Naruto and I kept breaking the nets before we could get any fish into the bowl. Naruto almost used ninjutsu before the guy running the game pointed out the sign that said it wasn't allowed.

Watching the younger girl beside me I saw how she was managing to catch five fish without breaking the net. She was a pro at this game from the looks of it and she was doing it completely different from Naruto and I. We were going at it aggressively, trying to be quick, but this little girl was slower and yet more agile.

"We have enough for one more stand. What do you want to do, Naruto?" I held out the money in my hand to show him what was left and he held his chin while thinking.

"Grilled squid!"

"Sounds good!"

~

"Good grief, where did he go to?!" Naruto sighed, carrying his and the old man's squid as we looked for him. We both paused when we heard familiar laughter though and stepped into the building it was coming from.

"Young ladies are so nice." He was drunk and on a couch with two women sitting beside him. "Oh, kids! You've already had your fill of the festival?" Jiraiya sipped on his saki and Naruto's face dropped when he saw his frog wallet empty on the table.

"Repeat those three Shinobi Taboos again!" He raised his voice. "You're breaking all three at once! You bastard!"

"W-Wait, Naruto-" The women ran off now that the blond was on the table and angrily waving the squid around.

"No, I won't wait! You used all my hard-saved money! Take this and this and this!"

"N-Naruto, stop!" Pervy Sage was doing his best to block the boy's hits and I just stood there watching. "I'll pay it all back! I'm sorry, p-lease!"

"You! You! You made my froggy wallet all flat!" One of the squids flew from the blond's hand and smacked right into someone else.

"Hey! Look what you did, you urchin!" A bald man screeched. "You stained Leader's designer suit! You'll have to pay for it! Fork over 100,000 ryo!"

"What?! You're telling me that suit cost 100,000 ryo?!"

"Wow, really? That's quite a stretch to say a dorky suit like that cost 100,000 ryo." Jiraiya popped off and I just watched the scene play out while eating my own grilled squid.

"Are you asking for it? You better put a lid on it if you know what's good for you. The leader used to be a Chunin from the Hidden Village of Stones, the legendary dark ninja, feared by all!"

"Come again? Legendary what?"

"You seem to want to get hurt!"

"Perfect timing, you two." Pervy Sage held out his hand and air began to swirl in his palm. "I'll show you a Justsu now.... Watch very carefully!"

"Now you've done it!" The man in the weird suit ran at Jiraiya but the old man just hit him with the ball of swirling air and Chakra, sending him flying back as he spun.

"A-Amazing!" Naruto was in awe but the spike in Chakra had made me hungry. Eating what was left of my squid seemed to sate the craving long enough for the Chakra spike to drop.

"I was holding back a bit. You guys are so weak. I'm sorry.... We kind of destroyed your stand." Jiraiya apologized to the man at the water balloon booth that had been crushed by the two men sent flying.

"H-Here, fix it with this." The one in the weird suit weakly pulled out his wallet and held it out.

"Oh! Thanks. Would you mind if I bought all your balloons and water balloons at the same time, my man?"

"Fine by me...."

"Naruto! Sayuri! Come with me, it's training time!"

"Yes, sir!" Naruto and I said.

~

"Finally, the mood is right for a little training."

"Here. Water balloon."

"Wha-?"

"Water balloon?" I questioned, catching the one tossed to me as Naruto caught his. "What's it for?"

"You saw that Jutsu I just used, right?"

"Yeah."

"What Jutsu did it look like to you?"

"It looked like you made your opponent spin violently." Naruto answered.

"And sent him flying." I added and Naruto nodded. Jiraiya raised his hand, holding a water balloon and the sides began to spike from the water inside spinning around. The old man wasn't using as much Chakra now as he had before, so it seemed I didn't have to worry about getting hungry.

"The tree climbing exercise to learn to gather and maintain Chakra in necessary places.... The Walk-on-Water exercise to learn how to release a set amount of Chakra.... You two did both of these, right? And now with this water balloon exercise, you'll learn how to create a stream of Chakra. In other words, spinning."

"Create a stream of Chakra?"

"I'll give a more detailed explanation of the Jutsu once you get these first steps down. First, you must gather Chakra using the tree climbing technique. Then, you must continuously release Chakra using the Walk-on-Water technique. Then you push and churn the water in the balloon with the Chakra!"

"I got it! Then you spin the water in the balloon faster and faster until the balloon pops!"

"You're catching on more and more quickly! Okay, today we're going to train until evening!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Wait...." Looking at Jiraiya, I bounced the balloon in my hand a little.

"What is it, Sayuri?"

"Naruto and I both have high amounts of Chakra, wouldn't just having a higher output burst the balloon before the spinning would?"

"Good question!" He pointed while grinning. "If either of you pop the balloon with a Chakra spike rather than spinning the water, it doesn't count and you start all over!" Naruto's face made it look like he was thinking as he stared at the balloon he had, and I could easily guess what it was he was trying to figure out.

How would we avoid a Chakra spike while trying to get the water to pop the balloon?


End file.
